An Apple Affair
by As Silent As The Shadows
Summary: Who knew that throwing one apple could effect a person's life so much? Kyouya certainly didn't.Neither did Kaoru for that matter.There was nothing they could do about it now though; they were stuck together; doomed to a marriage with one another. FINISHED
1. Chapter 1: The Throwing of the Apple

A/N: Wow I haven't written in a while. Anyways, as usual I don't own Ouran. I do own the one character in here, but honestly I really don't care if anyone wants to borrow him :) He's just there to get the plot moving.

Anyways I was inspired by a snapple cap that informed me that in Ancient Greece throwing an apple was how men proposed to women. Thus, this story came to be.

It's Kyou/Kao by the way. I don't know about the rest of the pairings yet, I'm willing to take any suggestions :)

* * *

Kyouya sighed, inwardly, once more as he straightened his tie. He looked in the mirror at himself; he needed his appearance to be impeccable for tonight as he was to help his father create a strong connection with a new business partner.

While he knew the importance of these sorts of functions and the benefits that would be attained from them, Kyouya could not help but to feel a strange sense of dread towards the aforementioned activities planned for the night. He knew this feeling was irrational; that there was nothing unusual about the night, but he just could not shake it.

He knew that his father's reasons for throwing the party were justifiable; that the relations would fare much better if the connections were created under more light-hearted circumstances. But it all just seemed so fake to him. Kyouya had always made his own intentions clear, for he believed that with no hidden agenda he would, in the end, gain more from earning his partners' trust.

Kyouya had changed greatly over the years. He owed it all to that originally fake friendship with Tamaki. He used to be exactly like his father, for he would do anything in order to improve relations with powerful families, even create a friendship under false pretenses. Now, however, although he wouldn't ever admit it out loud, he truly could say that he had friends.

Granted, he wasn't exactly against the benefits that came along with his friends' family connections, but that was no longer the only reason he was around them. He would still do nearly anything for the company, but at least he was honest about it now; he never pretended that the company wasn't what motivated him into acting on most things. Now, he was able to enjoy more than the economical benefits from his actions.

Kyouya glanced at the clock recognizing that it was nearly time for him to leave, and took a final gander at his reflection in the mirror, deeming himself ready to depart.

Kyouya was, as usual, surrounded by all the eligible -and some not so eligible- daughters of various company presidents. The people skills that had been engrained on him since his birth had only been heightened by his involvement in the Host Club. Hence, all the girls had flocked to him in hopes of created a long lasting impression on the boy, secretly, or so they thought, wishing to eventually become engaged to him.

He, of course, knew all about their reasoning. The daughters were destined to marry for connections rather than love. He could understand their fascination with him; why would they want to be betrothed to some unappealing 40 year old man, when they could have Kyouya, whom they saw as a cool, collected, and most importantly, attractive young man.

Kyouya played along with it for the company's sake, and he didn't mind all of the girls. However, there were some that frustrated him to no end; they would throw themselves, literally, onto him. During the Host Club, Kyouya never had any problem throwing off Tamaki or either of the twins, but these girls were just relentless and he abhorred them for it. Maybe that said something about his sexuality, but he had never really thought about it before.

He had never thought about dating anyone either. Kyouya had always been a very realistic person, and no amount of Tamaki's ridiculous fantasies would be able to change that. He knew that he had no chance of having any control over his future romantic life. In fact, he was fairly certain that there would be no romance involved at all. He would suffer the same fate as the thousands that had come before him. Kyouya figured that this was some kind of price he had to pay for being so privileged in life.

Upon hearing the conversations around him die, Kyouya glanced towards the door assuming, correctly, that his father and the new business partner had finally arrived.

Kyouya's father began to address the party, "I would like to introduce you to Mr. Altair Kotas. He is the President of Kotas Air located in Athens, Greece."

Kyouya tuned out his father's voice, having heard this speech many times before. He was more interested in the action directly to the right of his father, where the Hitachiin brothers appeared to be having a silent argument with each other.

Kaoru Hitachiin was always the more sensible twin. He always thought before he spoke, unlike his other half, who was known for his outbursts of emotion. Some people mistook this trait as an act of timidity; however, it was nothing of the sort.

Kaoru's plans were always the ones that succeeded. He achieved this by keeping up his appearance and by thinking everything that he did through. He also had always been more sensitive to others' feelings; he was able to tell what was wrong with someone, and would most usually help them with their problems.

However, sometimes there were exceptions. There were certain things that Kaoru could not tolerate; he would speak without thinking and act out of impulse. Mostly, this happened when Hikaru would hurt others, even if on accident. There were times when he was unbelievably harsh to his brother without even meaning to be; the words would just come out as if he had no control over them.

Yet, this time, it was different. Kaoru had snapped at his brother, but Hikaru had done nothing to hurt another person. Instead, he was acting like an idiot at a party thrown by the Shadow King's family. Usually, Hikaru acting like an idiot in front of a few executives didn't bother Kaoru at all. However, there always had been something about Kyouya and his family that put Kaoru on edge.

Kaoru felt bad for snapping at his brother, but really who throws a fuss over an apple? Hikaru had gotten a sudden, random, craving for an apple, and unfortunately this craving decided to arrive at a very inconvenient time, the moment that Kyouya's father and the honored guest arrived.

Courtesy as invited guests demanded that Hikaru and Kaoru either remain where they were, or move towards the two gentlemen (which happened to be in the opposite direction of the apples). Hikaru, however, appeared not to care about this rule as he began to move towards the aforementioned fruit.

Kaoru was, for some unknown reason, enraged by this action and therefore tightly grabbed onto his twin's arm, dragging him back towards his previous position.

Hikaru, never one to react favorably to being controlled, began to make an audible fuss. This, of course, only further annoyed Kaoru. The younger twin, clearly frustrated, threw his hand over his brother's mouth, successfully silencing him.

Across the room, Kyouya was highly amused. Hikaru was desperately trying to inch his way towards the fruit buffet, while Kaoru was struggling to keep his brother in place.

After quickly glancing towards his father and determining that the speech was still moving along smoothly, Kyouya proceeded towards the aforementioned table. He smirked as he saw Hikaru's eyes widen as the Shadow King picked up an apple and brought it towards his face, as if to eat it.

Instead, the apple was thrown through the air in the direction of the Hitachiin twins, Kyouya having decided to end their suffering. Hikaru made to grab the apple, but Kaoru was quicker, not wanting his brother's attempted discourtesy to be encouraged. Kaoru's hand enclosed around the apple just as Kyouya's father's speech came to an end.

Kyouya approached the twins noticing how Kaoru was desperately trying to keep the apple away from his brother.

"You should really learn to follow common courtesy at business functions such as these, Hikaru."

The eldest twin glowered at Kyouya, "It's not like you were much better, throwing an apple through the air."

"In fact Hikaru-," Kyouya was cut off by his father and Mr. Kotas' arrival. His father looked less than pleased.

"I cannot believe you were willing to do that during a speech," Mr. Kotas began to speak with a heavy Greek accent adorning his words.

Kyouya kept his face neutral as he saw his father's face begin to darken, expecting punishment later; however, his expectations were completely thrown off by the business partner's next words.

"It's such a romantic gesture and you did it in front of so many people, too. I am so excited for the wedding!"

As the president of the Ohtori group, Kyouya's father took every possible opening that was given to him. He also would not allow himself to appear unknowledgeable in front of his new partner; despite his qualms about his youngest son's relations, he would simply go along with the man's words.

"Why yes, Kyouya has been in relations with the Hitachiin for a while now and we are very excited to finally unite the two families."

At his father's look, Kyouya grabbed Kaoru's hand and entwined it with his own, trying to appear as a real couple and to keep his confusion from showing on his face.

Kaoru would have laughed at this situation had it involved anyone else; unfortunately he was the one caught up in this mess. He had no idea what the crazy Greek guy was talking about and he has a feeling that Kyouya and his father were just as clueless.

As a Hitachiin, Kaoru could not afford to ruin relations with either the Ohtori group or with the Kotas group, and therefore, being the responsible twin, decided to go along with this marriage scheme.

Kaoru stepped closer to Kyouya and began to act as if he was in the Host Club, only with the Shadow King rather than with his twin brother.

"Yes, we are quite excited," Kaoru spoke and squeezed Kyouya's hand in an obvious manner, looking up at his sempai in adoration, "I cannot wait to begin planning the wedding. I am especially excited to be able to design the clothing since it will give me an opportunity to begin marketing wedding attire."

Hikaru gaped at his brother; what the hell was he doing. He couldn't possibly actually be marrying Kyouya; the Shadow King of all people. He began to open his mouth, planning on protesting the marriage, but a look from his younger brother silenced him; clearly Kaoru thought that he had the situation under control.

"I am so glad," the Greek man continued, "People never appreciate the ancient traditions anymore. You truly are educated young men." With that, the two men walked away, discussing their future plans for their companies.

The three teens stood in silence for a moment.

"What just happened?" Kaoru asked.

"I'm not quite sure," Kyouya mumbled still puzzled over the recent developments.

Hikaru, unlike his twin and the Shadow King, had yet to say anything, for he was too preoccupied by staring at the two before him.

"What's wrong Hikaru?"

Hikaru blinked at his brother's question, "Why are you two…still holding hands?"

Kaoru glanced down; in all of the confusion he hadn't even realized that he and Kyouya were still holding hands. He moved to let go but Kyouya held on, preventing him from disconnecting their appendages.

At Kaoru's confused look, Kyouya decided to elaborate, "We have to keep up appearances until we figure this out. It would be bad for both of our companies if Kotas found out that we were lying."

Kaoru nodded, and upon seeing the Greek man and the President return to the stage, pulled Kyouya closer wanting to put on a show for the two men.

"Ladies and Gentlemen," President Ohtori began, "I have a wonderful announcement to make. Soon the Hitachiin group and Ohtori group will be bonded through the marriage of my youngest son to their youngest son. Now, Mr. Kotas will explain their dramatic engagement to you".

Hikaru groaned as his and Kaoru's mother came dashing towards them, surprise in her step. There was no way for the two to get out of this marriage now. Kaoru however, didn't seem affected by this at all.

"Kaoru! Why didn't you tell me that you and Kyouya were dating?"

"We didn't want to upset anyone with our relationship; we were worried about everyone's reactions. We also didn't want to cause a scandal since we are both males."

Kyouya, seeing that, although Kaoru was speaking calmly, his knee had subtly begun to twitch, pulled the twin against his chest, wrapping his arms around him to give him support.

Yuzuha Hitachiin smiled at the sight of her son and the Ohtori, "I don't mind. I wish you had told me though; it would have been great inspiration for a new clothing line."

"Actually," Kyouya cut in, seeing a business opportunity, "We were hoping that you and Kaoru could make a wedding line for us that could then be marketed off to the public."

The eldest Hitachiin smiled at the idea, quickly agreed, and then bounded off, mimicking the manner in which her sons had often been seen, inspiration at her fingertips.

Kyouya relaxed his grip on Kaoru as he felt him relaxing now that his mother was gone. The two then turned their attention to the stage, where hopefully, the man who had started this whole mess would explain their fate.

Altair Kotas began his story: "In ancient Greek times, men did not propose to women in our traditional sense. Instead, they had a much more entertaining method. The man would throw an apple towards his desired woman. Then, the woman would catch the apple if she accepted the man, or would let it fall to the ground if she rejected him.

"These two young men honored this tradition earlier this evening when the young Ohtori threw an apple towards the youngest Hitachiin. I look forward to seeing them prosper in the future."

Kyouya and Kaoru turned their attention to Hikaru, who was attempting to make a stealthy get away. Unfortunately, he was trapped by two deadly stares.

"You just had to have that apple didn't you, Hikaru?"

He sighed; why did he always get caught in these messes? "I wasn't the one who threw the apple. Besides, Kaoru, you were the one who caught the apple."

Kyouya had to hold Kaoru back from pummeling his brother. Clearly, they were in for a long voyage.

* * *

It's kind of an odd plot, but I like it. I hope you guys do too. I would appreciate reviews or if you have any ideas or anything feel free to tell me. Also if you find any mistakes I would greatly appreciate being informed of them; I hate having mistakes in my stories but sometimes they just happen.

Hopefully I'll be able to update soon in about a week, depending on my college apps and such.

I hope you liked it :)


	2. Chapter 2:An Awkward Car Ride and An Act

A/N: I am so sorry that this is late. These past few weeks have been very hectic with people getting kicked out of my school, having musical rehearsal every night, and my latin teacher being absolutely evil. Luckily, the musical only has one performance left, so I will have much more time on my hands to write.

Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed! I really appreciated it and it motivated me to write even when I was dead tired.

I hope you like Chapter 2!

* * *

Finally, after what seemed like years to the two newly engaged boys, the party was over.

For hours they had been forced to talk to various executives about their relationship. For once, Kyouya was very thankful for Tamaki and the twins' usual actions at the Host Club because, apparently, some of their outrageous story-telling had rubbed off on him.

They had determined that Kyouya had first begun to court Kaoru by sending the boy 10 dozen red roses, one for each month that the teens had known each other. Of course, neither of them could imagine Kyouya doing that, but it seemed to please the women, who reminded them of Renge, that had begun to surround them.

Now that the evening was over, most people had cleared out of the luxurious ballroom. However, a few important business partners to the Ohtori's remained; the twin's mother had already left, having dashed off to work on her new wedding inspired clothing line.

Kyouya and Kaoru remained attached with the elder's hand wound tightly around the other's waist.

"Kaoru," Hikaru growled as the last executive left from the building, "Why are you still connected to that Shadow King!"

Kaoru sighed at his brother's outburst, already exasperated at his current situation, "Because, Hikaru, we are engaged and must appear so, even when it seems that no one is watching."

Hikaru ended his argument, but continued to glare at his enemy as Kyouya's father approached the group of three.

"We have prepared a room for you at the Ohtori mansion. Please be prepared to move in tomorrow as we will need to begin the wedding preparations as soon as possible. Also do make sure that you and Kyouya ride together this evening."

The Ohtori President left the room without allowing any of the young men to argue the matter.

"Kaoru," Hikaru began to whine once more, "Why must you live with Kyouya-Sempai?"

"Hikaru," Kyouya began, exempting Kaoru from having to respond, "We must appear as a real couple that has been in love for a long time. In order to make the planning for the wedding smoother, the female in the relationship generally moves in with her fiancée's family. This also allows the couple to start developing a routine that will then be continued once they live together after the wedding."

Kyouya saw the wheels turning in the elder twin's and decided to cut him off before he could protest once more, "Yes Hikaru, I know that your brother is not a girl." Kyouya glanced down at Kaoru and looked him up and down, "He is most _definitely_ not a girl…However, my father, being an Ohtori, must be in a situation of power at all times; therefore, Kaoru must move in with us."

Kaoru shivered at the looks Kyouya was giving him; however, he knew fully well that these looks were fake. Although Kyouya appeared to be interested, there was something about the glances that seemed untrue and Kaoru knew his sempai well enough to know when he was acting; nevertheless, the looks unnerved him and Kaoru couldn't tell whether it was because he disliked the attention or craved it.

"Really, Hikaru," the younger twin began to speak, hoping that his brother would listen to him, "I'm fine moving in with him. It is my duty as his fiancée to please him and his family; he would do the same thing if our family wished it. I'm sure you will manage on your own at home."

Hikaru did not grant a response to his brother; however, he offered his twin a small smile.

Kyouya glanced between the two brothers, realizing that there would be tension between them for a long while, at least until Hikaru accepted that Kaoru was doing what he felt was right for his family.

"Kaoru, we must go."

The aforementioned twin nodded and began to move towards the exit with his intended; his brother followed closely behind.

Kaoru sighed, knowing that his upcoming words would enrage the person who mirrored him in appearance, "Hikaru, you cannot come with us."

Hikaru was about to protest but his brother silenced him with a look, "You need to take the car back to our house; I will meet you there later on. The Shadow Ki-," Kaoru stopped himself midway, and glanced at the almost-mentioned boy realizing that he should no longer use nicknames or titles, "I mean, _Kyouya_ will ensure that I get home safely; we have many things to discuss during the car ride. Hikaru, I _am_ to marry him."

Kaoru gave one last glance towards his brother before grabbing Kyouya's hand and walking forward in the direction of the car.

* * *

After such an eventful evening, Kaoru was glad that he was finally able to relax once he reached the Ohtori's car. Granted, he was no where near as comfortable as he would have been had he been in his own car rather than Kyouya's, but he figured that he would have to get used to being separated from his twin.

He glanced over at his future husband and sighed; he wondered why this kind of situation always seemed to happen to him. After a moments thought, he decided that it was usually his twin that placed him in such situations. At least with Kyouya he wouldn't have as many catastrophes.

"I am sorry for this Kyouya-sempai."

Kyouya glanced over at his companion, "It is not your fault, Kaoru. It is not as if you were aware that by catching an apple you were linking yourself to me."

Kaoru offered his betrothed a small smile, knowing that Kyouya was correct, as usual, but still feeling bad nonetheless. Seeing this, Kyouya decided to branch out from his usual stoic nature and attempt to lift the melancholy atmosphere that was present in the car.

"Personally, I am very glad that it was you who caught the apple rather than Hikaru; I do not think I would be able to spend the rest of my life with his rambunctious nature. Although, I am sure that you wish that it had been your twin, for you would not be stuck with me for eternity." He paused for a moment, thinking about their earlier conversations, "And Kaoru, there is no longer a need for you to address me as your sempai, even when we are alone; you are more than just my kōhai now."

Kaoru thought about the words that he had just heard for a moment, trying to come up with a suitable response.

"For once Kyouya, you are wrong." The aforementioned boy turned his head towards the other in surprise, "I do not wish that it had been Hikaru. I would never wish for something like this to happen to him; I know that it he would not handle it well. Not only would he damage our company's reputation, which I know that you can appreciate, but he would also ruin his happiness.

"He has someone that he cares for, and I would never dream of taking that away from him. I do not have someone that I am being taken away from, other than my brother of course, and I know that I will be able to handle it. Besides, I always figured that I would have an arranged marriage since Hikaru would never agree to one; I am just glad that it is to someone that I know and can hold a conversation with."

"That I am thankful for as well, Kaoru."

The car continued on its way with the conversation having stopped to the Hitachiin mansion.

* * *

As he walked through the door to his house, Kaoru was attacked. Not literally, of course, but it felt like it as he was tackled to the floor by his overzealous brother.

"Oh Kaoru! You're alive!"

Kaoru groaned at his brother's weight on top of him, "Hikaru, I think you have been hanging out with our lord too much."

"Ah, sorry, Kaoru; I was just so worried about you being alone with that forsaken Shadow King!"

Hikaru slowly got off of his younger brother and offered him a hand to help him up. Kaoru accepted the offer, sighing at his brother's antics. They began to walk up the stairs towards their shared room.

"Hikaru," Kaoru began trying to tread carefully so that his brother would not have another outburst, "You are going to have to get used to me being alone with Kyouya; we are going to be married after all."

Upon entering their room and seeing the look on his brother's face, Kaoru realized that he had not been successful with his words.

"Why are you marrying him, Kaoru? There really is no need, we could just explain it to the crazy Greek man; I'm sure he would understand."

"Hikaru, it is not that simple. Kyouya's father has already given his word that we are getting married and we have already lied about our relationship. If we were to go back on our statements now, it would put both of our companies in a bad light. While our company would not suffer as much seeing as we are in fashion, Kyouya's most certainly would and I refuse to damage his future just to ensure my happiness."

Hikaru thought for a moment about his younger twin's words; Kaoru had always been the more thoughtful twin, and now, it seemed, was no exception. However, Hikaru did not like the fact that his younger brother was sacrificing his own happiness.

At last, Hikaru felt like he had come up with a brilliant plan. "Well, you might have to marry him, but there's no reason that you need to _stay_ married to him. Just get a divorce!"

Kaoru paused from packing at his brother's words; clearly Hikaru had no idea about relationships in the world of the wealthy.

"That cannot happen, Hikaru. It seems that because we are lucky and have two parents whom married for love and stayed together happily, you do not know the workings of the usual married couple in our world. If the couple does not grow to love each other, which is generally the case, they do not get divorced. A divorce would create tension between the two families and any assets that were gained because of the marriage would be fought over during the divorce; this is too much of a risk for any company to take.

"Instead, affairs occur during the marriage, and, as long as the person is discreet, no one minds. I do not expect to grow to love Kyouya nor for him to love me. We are lucky; we are not able to create an heir and, therefore, we will not have to do anything that we are not comfortable with. We do not mind each other's company and that is all that matters."

Hikaru was shocked by his brother's words; it seemed that he really did not loathe the idea of marrying the Shadow King and fully intended to remain attached to him for the rest of his life. As much as he hated the idea of his brother with Kyouya-sempai, Hikaru knew from Kaoru's tone of voice that there was no arguing with him.

"You're already starting to sound like him!"

Kaoru smiled at his brother's joking tone; it seemed that he had finally decided to stop complaining. "I am not Hikaru! Now get over here and help me pack."

Hikaru sauntered over to his brother and pulled him into a hug, knowing that this was one of the last times that he would spend with his brother, alone.

* * *

"Mother! What is this?" Tamaki stormed, raging, towards his friend.

"That, Tamaki, would be a tabloid."

"Yes, I know that, but why on Earth does it say that you and that Devilish twin are getting married!"

"That would be because it is true." Kyouya turned back to his notebook and began to write, taking no notice of Tamaki still standing before him, fuming.

"No! Mother is being taken away from me. Hikaru, you devilish twin, how dare you!"

Hikaru looked at his sempai, confused. "I am not the one engaged to the Shadow King, my lord."

As if on cue, Kaoru walked through the doors of the Third Music Room. He had just directed Kyouya's men to load his belongings into the Ohtori's car and was now wishing that he had remained with them as he viewed the chaos before him.

"I'm assuming they know?"

A small nod from Kyouya was the only answer that he received.

"That's so exciting Kaoru-chan!" Honey bounded over to the boy and bounced around him animatedly, with Mori following closely behind. The taller boy nodded, agreeing with his smaller counterpart.

Haruhi looked between the two engaged boys strangely, "You expect me to believe that you two have been secretly dating since I've known you?"

Kaoru sighed, having expected this from the girl, "No, Haruhi, just give us a moment to explain."

Kyouya and Kaoru retold the events from the night prior, with Hikaru chiming in with sarcastic comments all the while.

"We hope that you will support our story." Kyouya continued to speak explaining what he expected of the members of the Host Club, "We expect that there will be much press surrounding our engagement and if you are asked questions we hope that you will go along with our story."

All the members nodded, showing their support of the two boys. Haruhi, however, still seemed troubled. "I understand Kyouya-sempai doing this for his company, but you, Kaoru?"

Kaoru rolled his eyes in exasperation; why was he always the one who was questioned? "I do not mind marrying for the company; I always expected it, despite my being the younger twin." He gave her a pointed look, "Besides, I want Hikaru to be able to marry for love, and my marrying into the Ohtori family will give my parents no room to argue about whomever Hikaru chooses."

Kyouya smirked at his betrothed's words; the boy could be just as devious as him, sometimes. Haruhi could not keep a blush from appearing on her face.

"As for the host club," Kyouya attempted to redirect their attention to the business that needed to be taken care of, "The twins' act will need to end. Today you will need to break it off, Kaoru, and then come to me so that we can begin our act together. Hikaru, you are free to either entertain customers by yourself or to create an act with Haruhi."

Hikaru's eyes widened at the thought, pleased at the idea of working with Haruhi. Kaoru smiled; he was glad that his brother would be fine at the Host Club without him.

* * *

"Kaoru why must you leave me. Don't you love me anymore?"

Currently, the Hitachiin twins were in the middle of their last act. Hikaru was holding his twin against his chest, while Kaoru was desperately struggling to get away from his brother.

"Hikaru, please don't do this. It's not that I don't love you, but my love for you no longer exceeds that of a brother. I love Kyouya and I want to spend the rest of my life with him. Please, let me be happy."

Half of the crowd of girls that surrounded them squealed with delight at Kaoru's words, excited about the idea of the Shadow King with the Hitachiin. However, the other half remained silent, sad that their favorite couple was breaking up.

"Hikaru, let go of my fiancée." The aforementioned boy's eyes widened as the Shadow King magically appeared behind him; this wasn't a part of the original plan, but Hikaru figured he should go along with it anyway. He released his hold on his brother and watched as Kaoru drifted past him towards Kyouya-sempai.

"Kyouya," Kaoru spoke longingly, trying to make it seem as if he was madly in love, "I have missed you."

Kyouya chuckled, "It has only been a few minutes since we last spoke, dear."

"Yes, but every moment away from you seems like an eternity."

At this, the entire crowd of girls sighed; judging by the fact that the majority fainted at the sight, none of them had an issue with the couple any longer.

Taking the opportunity, Kaoru and Kyouya ventured over to an unoccupied table in order to prepare for their act.

"You are quite the actor, Kaoru Hitachiin."

"As are you, Kyouya Ohtori."

* * *

"This is so exciting for you Kaoru-sempai; you get to be a bride."

Kaoru grinned inwardly at the girl's words; he had hoped someone would say something to that effect.

"Kyouya, why do they always refer to me as a girl? You don't only like me because I look one do you?" Kaoru pouted, all the while greatly enjoying this situation; it was thrilling to do this act with Kyouya because, unlike with his brother, he never knew how the other boy would respond.

Kyouya pulled his fiancée closer, "Of course not, Kaoru. They only say that because you're smaller than me and because your body fits perfectly against mine." He paused allowing the girls to sigh in delight, "And, of course, because they must also know how _delicious_ you would look in a wedding dress."

Kaoru made himself blush at Kyouya's words and looked up at the other boy as he leaned down as if to kiss him.

"Kyouya, we can't, not here."

"Yes you can," both boys pulled apart at the voice they had both grown to hate over the years. This girl was always very outspoken and always seemed to cause trouble for everyone. "Now that you are engaged it is perfectly acceptable for you to kiss in public."

Both boys groaned inwardly, seeing the reaction of the girls around them, they knew that they would have to kiss.

"She is right, Kaoru; we no longer need to hide." Kyouya leaned down and placed a soft kiss on the younger boy's lips. It was nothing Earth-shattering; it was merely a simple peck, but it affected the crowd nonetheless.

Kaoru was happy that Kyouya hadn't gone for a full blown make-out session; he knew that eventually they would have to kiss in front of others and pretend that it was very intense, but he wasn't mentally prepared for it yet.

"Ohohohohoho," both boys cringed at the signature sound they had grown to associate with Renge; whenever she appeared something bad was bound to happen.

"That was _not_ a real kiss. You must kiss as if you were alone; it is not fair to hold back in front of your customers!"

"But Renge," Kaoru whined, playing the shy boy, "It's embarrassing. I love Kyouya, but I don't want to share our passion with others."

Despite the fact that Kaoru's words made the girls squeal, Renge was not satisfied, and the engaged couple knew they had to do it.

Kyouya pulled Kaoru's body flush against his and leaned down once more. Although it once again started with a soft placement of lips against another's, this kiss developed into something more. Kaoru wound his arms around the older boy's neck in order to pull himself closer and moaned audibly as Kyouya's tongue ran across his lips.

Kyouya smirked into the kiss as he heard both Kaoru and the crowd's reaction. Eventually, he pulled back, subtly glancing around at the crowd that surrounded them, pleased with their response.

Although the kiss wasn't as special as it would have been with someone he loved, Kaoru was pleased; Kyouya could kiss _very_ well indeed.

* * *

I hope you all enjoyed Chapter Two! Please review if you have any ideas or comments or criticism. Seriously though, if you have any ideas that you really want to appear in the story or something to that effect, I would love to hear them.

Chapter 3 has about a paragraph or two written. Thanks to the epic snowfall that I've had I don't have school for the rest of the week so it might get done within the next few days, if not it should be out within 2 weeks or so.

And as a random side note: one of my friends commented on the weird phrases and word order that I use the other day and I thought that I would explain in case any of you found it odd as well. My writing style is very much influenced by the Latin Poetry and Prose that I have translated which includes weird participle phrases that seem to carry over into my own writing, as well as moving words around for various effects.

Anyways, I hope you liked it!


	3. Chapter 3:Shampoo, Sleeping,and Trickery

A/N: I hope you guys like this chapter. I was holding myself back while writing it since I'm dying to just have them fall in love immediately and be all over each other, but I'm trying to make it more realistic. Anyways, enjoy :)

* * *

"Was it really necessary for you two to kiss, Kaoru?" Hikaru fell back into his usual complaining mode as the final customers left for the evening.

"The customers demanded it, Hi-ka-ru," he grinned, knowing that his next words would set his brother off, "Besides, it wasn't all that terrible. Kyouya, it seems, is very skilled in the art of kissing."

Kaoru left Hikaru, who had his mouth hanging open in shock, and meandered towards Kyouya.

The older boy glanced up as he heard footsteps come towards him. "Hello Kaoru," he offered the younger boy a small smile.

"Hi Kyouya," he smiled back, happy that he seemed to be in a good mood, "Should we be heading to your house soon?"

"I just need to finish a few preparations for tomorrow; if you don't mind waiting." Kaoru smiled and walked towards Haruhi; however, before he could get very far, Kyouya called out to him, "And Kaoru, it is now your home as well."

Kaoru gave his fiancée a grin and continued on to Haruhi.

"You know, Kaoru, I still don't understand why you're doing this. I know that it's for the company and that you think that it will help Hikaru, but it just seems that you're sacrificing your own happiness."

Kaoru patted the girl's shoulder, happy the she was generally concerned about him. "I'm not in love with Kyouya nor is he in love with me, but we get along and we will be able to be comfortable and relatively happy around one another. I have no one that I have my heart set on at the moment so I'm not sacrificing anything; I don't know if there's someone out there that I'm going to be missing out on because I've accepted Kyouya, but I don't want to think about the 'what ifs'. Besides, Kyouya has a lot of honorable and charming qualities; I'm sure that I will enjoy spending time with him."

Haruhi looked at the boy in front of her, strangely. Since when had he respected Kyouya so much; it seemed as if his opinion of their sempai had changed within the last few hours.

"Oh, and Haruhi," she was thrown out of her thoughts as the boy in question began to speak once more, "Take care of Hikaru for me."

He winked as Kyouya walked over, "Ready?" The older boy asked.

Kaoru nodded and grabbed his bag. He waved goodbye to the rest of the Host Club and walked out of the room with Kyouya's hand in his. After all, they needed to pretend that they were in love.

* * *

Kyouya glanced over at the boy next to him, who appeared to be deep in thought. He still couldn't believe that he was engaged to Kaoru; everything had moved so quickly in the past day.

Honestly, he didn't really mind being engaged to the boy. While he would prefer to not be engaged at all, Kaoru was not a bad second choice. Their companies would work well together; the Hitachiin family could create many clothing lines for his own family's businesses, such as new uniforms for his own personal security and new attire for the hospital staff.

However, for some reason that Kyouya himself did not even know, he was happy that his betrothed was Kaoru. It wasn't just the company's prospects that pleased him; Kaoru himself also entertained him. It seemed to Kyouya, that Kaoru was very different when he was not around his brother.

Previously, Kyouya had only really known Kaoru in the presence of his twin. With Hikaru, Kaoru acted submissive and pulled pranks on nearly everyone; he never really spoke his mind around others. Now that Kyouya had the privilege to spend time with Kaoru alone, he saw a whole new side to the boy.

Kaoru frequently spoke his mind; he always thought before he spoke and seemed to really listen when other's talked to him. He was much more realistic than his brother as he had demonstrated with his ease in handling the situation that they were placed in. He had a grace that stood out about him which carried over into anything that he did.

Needless to say, Kyouya was fascinated by his betrothed. In no way did he love the boy, but he could see himself becoming very close Kaoru in the future.

Kaoru on the other hand, despite his calm exterior in the car, was fretting on the inside. Although he could now say that he was relatively comfortable around Kyouya, he could not say the same for his family.

Personally, Kaoru didn't know the Ohtori family all that well; however, he knew their reputation. He hoped that they would not try to make him change the way that he behaved, not that he really behaved all that badly without his twin…Kaoru knew that he was being ridiculous; he knew that they wouldn't ask him to change, but he couldn't help himself; he had seen way too many dramatic movies lately.

Kaoru was shaken out of his mind by someone calling his name. He glanced up and saw that in his reverie he had not noticed that the car had stopped nor had he detected that Kyouya had already stepped out of it.

"We are here, Kaoru," he grabbed Kyouya's offered hand and gently stepped out of the car. He gasped at the sight before him; the entire Ohtori family maid service as well as everyone else who worked in the mansion was lined up outside of the house. Kyouya's family was similarly lined up just before them, waiting to greet the soon-to-be newest member of the Ohtori family.

Kyouya chuckled at Kaoru's reaction and wound an arm around him, pulling him gently to his side. He leaned down and whispered into his ear, "Sometimes we can be a bit extravagant. Welcome home, _Kaoru_."

Kaoru smiled and strolled forward with Kyouya, his anxiety having lifted. He was greeted by each member of the Ohtori family; none really stood out in his mind as most were very formal. He was saddened that Kyouya's sister was unable to attend as she was tied up in France with her husband, finalizing some company business.

At last the formalities were over and Kyouya's father instructed his son to lead Kaoru to his room; his luggage had already been placed into the room as the Ohtori group had seen fit to send his luggage on ahead from school.

Kyouya removed his arm from around Kaoru's waist and instead grabbed his hand, leading him through the large front doors of his luxurious home.

After a few silent moments, Kyouya began to speak while leading his betrothed up the stairs towards their rooms. "We have about a half an hour before dinner. I believe that the cooks are preparing your favorite dishes in honor of your arrival."

Kaoru nodded in response, but remained silent soaking up the decorations and atmosphere that surrounded him. While he had been to Kyouya's house before, he had never really stopped to admire the embellishments that were present throughout the entire house; as a Hitachiin, he could appreciate the effort the Ohtori family had put in to the appearance of their home.

In a short period of time they had reached Kaoru's room. He looked around; this part of the house looked oddly familiar. "Kyouya, isn't this directly next to your room?"

"Perceptive as ever, Kaoru," he continued leading the boy further into the room, "It actually connects to my room; we have a connecting bath. It's supposed to make us used to living with each other as well as to make certain _activities_ easier."

Kaoru blushed and let go of Kyouya's hand; he knew that it wasn't expected for them to do anything, but the thought of it still made him feel _weird_.

He walked over to his bags and began to unpack, not noticing that Kyouya was following him. He was attempting to place a few of his shirts on top of a shelf in the nearby armoire, when he felt an arm wrap around him, and another other reached up and helped him place the attire safely on the shelf.

He sighed at the warmth that Kyouya's body created against his own, but was puzzled by Kyouya's actions, "We are alone in the safety of your own home, Kyouya; we do not need to keep up the act in here."

Kyouya thought for a moment before replying, "We are going to need to get used to this, Kaoru. Unless, of course, this bothers you?"

"Oh, no, Kyouya, I don't mind it at all. I just didn't want you to think that you were obligated or something because we are engaged."

Kaoru had turned around while he was speaking and was now gazing up at Kyouya, "I suppose that you're used to all of this contact having lived with Hikaru all your life." Kaoru smiled in response, for this was quite true; Hikaru had always been quite touchy. "Oh, and Kaoru, you seem to keep forgetting, we are in the safety of _our_ home; it is no longer just mine."

Kaoru smiled up at Kyouya, but the moment was ruined as a maid opened the door, smiled at the sight of the two boys embracing, and announced that dinner was served.

* * *

Dinner that evening was very formal. It consisted of a seven course meal; each dish was one that Kaoru favored personally. Although he appreciated everything that Kyouya's family had done for him, their conversations were very dull to him, and while he could talk about business in short bursts, an hour of company talk was getting to be too much for him.

Thankfully, Kyouya had picked up on his betrothed's boredom, and, as the last course had appeared a few minutes ago, had deemed it appropriate to ask to be excused so that he and Kaoru could finish unpacking.

Kyouya walked around the table in order to reach Kaoru, who was placed directly across from him. He pulled out his chair and offered Kaoru his hand as they began to leave the large dining hall. At Kaoru's confused look, Kyouya offered him a brief explanation, "It is what an Ohtori is expected to do for his wife."

Kaoru made sure to step on his fiancé's foot on the way out.

* * *

After a while, they had successfully unpacked most of Kaoru's belonging; there were only a few boxes remaining, none of which were too large.

"Kaoru," Kyouya spoke and the boy turned towards him, "Will you be alright from here? I need to finish some work and will need to shower later this evening."

Kaoru smiled at him, "Yes, I should be fine with the rest; you've already helped me place everything up high that I would not be able to reach." Kyouya made to leave the room, but Kaoru stopped him before he could make an exit, "Kyouya, do you always shower at night?"

Kyouya turned and looked at the boy strangely, spurring his fiancé to explain himself. Kaoru tried to smile, feeling rather awkward, "Well, I was just thinking that we would need to figure out a routine so that we would not bother each other while we are getting ready for school."

The elder boy nodded understandingly, "Yes, I usually shower in the evenings, since I'm not such a morning person. Is that going to disrupt you, Kaoru? It is a shower for two but-"

Kaoru cut him off before he could finish his thought, "Oh, I usually shower in the mornings, Kyouya; it shouldn't be a problem."

Kyouya nodded and continued on his way out of the room, both boys happy that the awkwardness had dissipated quickly.

Kaoru busied himself with continuing to unpack, while Kyouya finished his work in preparation for the next day.

* * *

Kaoru could not sleep. Originally, he had thought that he would love having a bed to himself; he wouldn't have to fight over the blankets and he wouldn't be woken up by an elbow that was jammed not so courteously into his side. However, he had discovered that there was one downside to sleeping by himself; it was far too cold.

He sighed and glanced at the clock that was conveniently placed on the bedside table. It was far too late for him to still be awake, but he didn't think that he would be able to go to sleep when he was this cold.

He decided upon taking a shower; that would surely warm him up enough to grant him some much needed sleep. Kaoru slowly made his way to the bathroom and turned on the light; he was glad that Kyouya had seen fit to close the door on his end so that the light from the bathroom would not wake him up.

Kaoru assumed that his fiancé was asleep in the next room; he had heard Kyouya take a shower while he, himself, was attempting to sleep. He hoped that his own shower would not wake up his betrothed, but knowing how deeply Kyouya slept, Kaoru did not fret over the matter much.

The shower itself was rather large; it appeared that Kyouya had not been kidding when he said that the shower was made for two. He turned on the water and allowed it to warm before stepping into the cascading water.

Kaoru rather liked this shower; it was not the size that drew him to it. Rather, he really enjoyed the style of it. Instead of the traditional showerhead, the water came directly from the ceiling, and it almost was as if it was raining down upon him.

He groaned; in his drowsy state, it seemed that he had forgotten to grab the bag that contained his shampoo. He hoped that Kyouya wouldn't mind him borrowing some. Kaoru smirked; it's not as if Kyouya had any right to complain about it anymore, for, after all, they were engaged now.

Kaoru grinned as he realized that his new status could come in handy later on.

* * *

Kaoru nearly screamed when he entered his room after his much needed shower; there was a figure sitting on his bed.

"K-Kyouya?"

The figure stood up and turned on the nearby table lamp.

"What are you doing here?"

Kyouya looked at him questioningly, "I was just wondering if you were all right. You normally never stay up this late on Host Club trips, so I thought that something was wrong."

"Oh, I'm sorry for waking you up, Kyouya." Kaoru gave him a small smile, hoping that he wasn't too upset.

"I was still finishing some final touches on a project for the company," he smirked, "But, back to the matter at hand. Why, pray tell, are you still awake, Kaoru?"

Kaoru looked away, embarrassed that he was awake for such a silly reason, "I was cold. I'm not used to sleeping by myself and it seems that it is much cooler without another body in the bed."

Kyouya thought for a moment; he supposed that it would be much colder without the body heat of another, especially if one had never slept by oneself. "Well get over here, then."

Kaoru looked at him questioningly, "You don't need to, Kyouya. I'm sure I will get used to sleeping alone."

"There's no reason for you to have to get used to it." Kaoru looked up, alarmed at his elder's words. "Eventually, we will have our own home, Kaoru, and there will be one bed. We might not be in love, but we are engaged, and it is the least that I can do to make sure that my fiancé sleeps well through the night. Now stop fretting over it and get over here."

Kaoru blushed, but, nonetheless, walked around to the other side of the bed and climbed underneath the covers. Kyouya smiled, glad that Kaoru would finally get some rest, and turned off the light before climbing onto the bed as well.

At first, Kaoru was uncomfortable at the thought of sleeping next to Kyouya. However, eventually, he relaxed; despite his usually cold exterior, Kyouya was, in reality, very warm.

* * *

As comfortable as he had felt last night, Kaoru didn't know if it was really worth it. Granted he was still comfortable; Kyouya had his arms wrapped around the smaller boy and it was producing the most wonderful body heat.

Despite the fact that he was _very_ comfy, it was time for Kaoru to get ready for school. However, unsurprisingly, Kyouya did not wake up as early as Kaoru. While he would have been happy to remain in this position for a long time, Kaoru knew that he needed to get up; if he didn't start getting ready now, he wouldn't be ready to leave on time and he highly doubted that Kyouya wanted to be late for school.

Every time Kaoru tried to inch away from Kyouya, the elder boy merely pulled him back against his body tighter. The twin knew that he needed to wake up Kyouya if he wanted to make it to school on time; however, he really didn't want to have to face the wrath of Kyouya after he had been woken up, unwillingly.

He stopped trying to escape for a moment and thought over the ways that the Host Club had attempted to wake the Shadow King in the past. It seemed that attempting to wake Kyouya in a loud or obnoxious manner never worked out, but no one had yet tried to wake him gently.

After a few more moments of thought, Kaoru decided that that was what he needed to do; wake Kyouya slowly and gently. Unfortunately, the first thing that popped into his mind wasn't something that he really wanted to do, but, as he was short on time, Kaoru didn't have any other option. He really needed to stop watching romantic movies.

Kaoru gently turned around so that he was facing Kyouya; this action caused the older boy to pull him more firmly against his chest. He gently leaned up and brushed his lips against Kyouya's cheek. He waited a moment, hoping that he had been successful; unfortunately it didn't seem to be so. He attempted a few more times, and each resulted in the same outcome.

Now, Kaoru was getting desperate; Kyouya would not release his hold on him and he had already wasted ten minutes trying to wake him up. He glanced at Kyouya's face; he really hadn't wanted to take it this far, but it seemed that he had no choice.

Smoothly, Kaoru raised his hands to cup Kyouya's cheeks and leaned up, placing his lips against the other's. He waited a moment, hoping that the contact itself would wake Kyouya up, but, as seemed usual, nothing happened. Kaoru groaned out of frustration and pressed harder against Kyouya, putting more force behind the kiss. Once again, no reaction. Extremely frustrated, Kaoru decided just to go for it; he ran his tongue across Kyouya's bottom lip, extracting a gasp from the other.

Kaoru sighed of happiness; finally, Kyouya was responding; hopefully he would fully wake up soon. He pursued his quest further, gently slithering his tongue into his fiancé's mouth, hoping that the stimulation would drive away the sleep from his mind.

Kyouya groaned and blinked his eyes open slowly, so as to adjust to the light gradually. He was curious as to why Kaoru was kissing him, but that would have to wait until his mind was clear of the cobwebs of sleep.

Kaoru pulled away as he saw Kyouya's eyes open.

"Good morning, Kyouya."

Kyouya nodded, still too tired to speak, but managed to throw Kaoru a questioning look.

"Well, I need to get ready and you wouldn't let go of me, but I didn't want to make you in a bad mood…"

Noticing Kaoru's apprehension, Kyouya finally mustered up the strength to speak, "Don't worry about it; I can be rather difficult to wake up in the mornings, as you know. Besides, it wasn't an unpleasant way to be awoken."

Kaoru smiled in appreciation, knowing that Kyouya wasn't this nice or considerate to everyone; it must be one of the perks of being his fiancé. He moved off the bed and began to get ready for school.

Kyouya remained in bed a few moments longer, before he began to do the same as Kaoru. He chuckled at the thought that maybe today he would arrive at school much earlier than usual.

* * *

Upon arriving at Ouran, Kyouya and Kaoru each went their separate ways.

Kaoru was shocked at the state of his brother once he reached their homeroom. "Hikaru, what happened to you?"

Hikaru had large dark circles underneath his eyes and was very pale.

"Oh Kaoru!" Hikaru threw his arms around his brother, "I am so glad that you're here! How I missed your warmth last night; I couldn't sleep at all!"

"I'm sorry, Hikaru, but I'm sure you will get used to it after awhile."

"Wait, Kaoru, why do you look so refreshed?" Hikaru examined his brother's face, noticing that his brother looked very relaxed, even though he should have been suffering the same problems as him. "Weren't you cold last night without me?"

Kaoru looked away shyly, "Yes, I was Hikaru. So I showered and warmed myself up."

"You're lying Kaoru; I took a shower as well and it didn't warm me up at all."

"Well, I showered and then Kyouya saw that I couldn't sleep and…kept me company throughout the night."

At this point, Hikaru was thoroughly puzzled, "How did the Shadow King sitting next to you keep you warm?"

Kaoru cringed; he had hoped to avoid answering this question so that his brother wouldn't try to get revenge upon Kyouya, but his previous word choice seemed to have confused his twin. "He didn't sit in a chair next to me, Hikaru. He slept next to me."

Hikaru's eyes widened, "He _slept_ with you!!!"

* * *

Meanwhile, Kyouya was having a similar experience with his best friend. Upon his arrival to his own homeroom, Tamaki had questioned him.

"Mother, why are you here so early?"

"Kaoru woke me up this morning, Tamaki."

Tamaki's eyes exploded in horror, "Why would he do that?! Now you're going to be in a bad mood all day."

Kyouya groaned, seeing the look in Tamaki's eyes, "He needed to wake me up because I wasn't allowing him to move, and I am not in a bad mood this morning, Tamaki, so you don't need to plan your revenge.

"But how did he do it?" Tamaki began to mumble to himself, wondering how the devilish twin had succeeded where he had failed.

Kyouya rolled his eyes at Tamaki's idiocy, "He woke me gently; it was rather pleasant."

Tamaki's eyes widened in horror, imagining the worst due to the tone of Kyouya's voice. Now he would really need to get revenge upon that devil.

* * *

Thankfully, Kaoru had been asked to stay behind in the last class so as to help with some project or another. Now Hikaru would be able to enact his revenge perfectly.

He was going to trick that Shadow King so badly that he would regret ever sleeping with his little brother; granted, Kaoru had looked more relaxed than he had seen him in the past few days, but still, how dare he do _that_ to his innocent twin!

Hikaru sauntered over to Kyouya, who was talking to a few customers that had come early to the Host Club. He wrapped his arms around the Shadow King and looked up into his eyes. "Oh Kyouya, how I have missed you so!"

Kyouya peered down at the boy in his arms questioningly, "Hikaru, what are you doing?"

"But Kyouya, I'm Kaoru! I'm so hurt that you can't tell me apart from my brother; after all these months of being together."

Kyouya sighed, figuring that the only way to get the annoying twin off of him was to prove it to him, and it also wouldn't hurt to put on a show for the customers.

"Hikaru, if you were really Kaoru, you would lean into my touch, not away from it." He smirked and leaned closer to the boy, "And, more importantly, Hikaru, you smell _nothing_ like Kaoru."

Hikaru pulled away from Kyouya, knowing that he had been beaten, "But Kyouya, Kaoru and I are twins; we even use the same shampoos and lotions; we do smell the same."

Kyouya grinned in a manner that could only be described as evilly, noticing that Kaoru had appeared through the doorway and was looking at Tamaki strangely, who was trying to scare the boy with a puppet; Kaoru's presence would make his plan more profitable.

"And that is where you are wrong, Hikaru. Kaoru no longer smells like you. After everything that happened last night," he raised his voice, knowing that it would carry to where Kaoru was standing, "Kaoru smells of _me_."

The large group of girls that surrounded them promptly fainted.

Kaoru wandered over to his twin and his fiancé, deciding to play along.

"Don't mislead them, Kyouya; it was just your shampoo." He latched himself onto his betrothed, leaning into his side.

Before Kyouya could reply, one of their customers chimed in, "You showered together?"

Kyouya smirked, loving where this was going, "The cascading water does cover every inch; it is a shower made for two."

"Kyouya," Kaoru buried his head in his fiancé's side, pretending to be embarrassed.

"Besides, Kaoru," Kyouya practically purred his name, "My scent must have rubbed off on you during the night, as well." He grinned at the looks on the customers' faces, deciding to push the story further, "And you were so _excited_ to wake me up this morning; it must have rubbed off on you then too."

Kyouya pulled Kaoru close to him and rubbed his arms up and down his back, emphasizing his words.

"Can't you show us," a customer spoke up again, wanting to see more from the boys.

"I'm sorry, princess, but there are some things that we want to keep to ourselves. However," he tilted Kaoru's face upwards, "We don't mind showing you this."

Their lips met for the second time that day; however, this time both parties participated fully, and it would surely not be their last.

* * *

A/N: I hope you guys liked it! Thanks so much for the reviews, you guys are absolutely amazing :)


	4. Chapter 4: Dresses and A Notebook

A/N: I hope you guys like this chapter!

* * *

Kaoru sighed as he threw himself upon a vacated couch within the Third Music Room; it was very tiring to keep up the act all the time. It took so much more effort with Kyouya than it ever had with Hikaru.

With Hikaru, it had been easy; they had known each other for their entire lives and Hikaru's words had never affected Kaoru, for there was never any truth behind his brother's words. It was very different with Kyouya. The elder boy was much more skilled at acting with Kaoru than Hikaru had ever been. Kyouya based all of his lines on truth and never lied; his words were all left open for interpretation and left no room for Kaoru to dispute them, for all of his stories were true.

It was so exhausting with Kyouya, for a few words from the boy could have Kaoru extremely flustered to the point where he wasn't acting any longer. He had so much fun with Kyouya though; the customer's reactions were so entertaining to watch, and Kyouya seemed to know exactly what to say to please them.

Kaoru snuggled further into the couch, glancing over at his betrothed. Kyouya was sitting at the desk that he had claimed for himself inside of the Host Club. As usual, he was busying himself, quickly switching between his laptop and his ever present notebook. Kaoru had always been curious about Kyouya's notebook, and, as his fiancé, he certainly had the right to know what was in it. Tonight, he decided, he would investigate.

"Are you sure you're not in love with him, Kaoru?" Hikaru broke his brother out of his thoughts. "You're quite obviously staring at him."

Kaoru changed the object of his gaze from Kyouya to Hikaru. He thought for a moment before answering, "I'm sure, Hikaru. I was just thinking over some things that Kyouya needs to show me tonight."

Hikaru groaned, not pleased with the images Kaoru's words brought to mind, nor the smirk that had placed itself on his brother's face.

Kaoru's eyes widened as he realized the implications of his words, "Oh- I-I didn't mean it like that, Hikaru. I swear! I was just thinking of some things to do to Kyouya later." He paused for a moment, and then continued his frantic rambling, "Oh, that didn't come out right either! What I mean is-"

Hikaru cut off his brother, putting him out of his misery, "I really don't want to know what you meant, Kaoru. That is entirely your business, no matter how much the thought of it makes me want to either kill Kyouya or go cleanse my mind with Lysol." He cringed, but continued, "Mother would like you and the Shadow King to come over this evening to view her sketches and to take measurements."

Hikaru walked away, trying not to stab himself with a fork at the thoughts that Kaoru had put into his mind.

Kaoru groaned and lay fully down on the couch, trying not to think about his failure in word choice. Obviously, he was still very flustered from Kyouya's words earlier in the evening.

Kyouya looked up from his work and caught sight of a very embarrassed looking Kaoru. He was very curious as to what had worked up his fiancé so much. He added the final touches to the projects that he had been working on and smoothly walked over to his betrothed.

"Kaoru, why are you trying to hide in the couch?"

The aforementioned boy groaned and grabbed a pillow to cover his face, not wanting to retell the story.

Kyouya raised an eyebrow at Kaoru's strange behavior; he wasn't usually the type to hide, let alone blush _that_ much at anything. He sighed, lifting the boy's legs and sitting next to him, allowing the appendages to rest upon his lap.

They sat like that for a while, Kaoru hiding himself behind a pillow and Kyouya resting his hands on the boy's calves, every once in a while rubbing them up and down his legs in a gentle manner. Eventually, Kaoru relaxed, not really knowing why he was so flustered, and sat up, removing his legs from Kyouya's lap.

"I'm sorry Kyouya; I don't know what got into me." He smiled in apology and his fiancé nodded in understanding. Remembering his brother's last words, Kaoru continued to speak, "Apparently my mom has finished her sketches and would like us to stop by the house to take measurements and give our opinions."

Kyouya smirked, "I wonder if she made you a beautiful dress…"

Kaoru wasted no time and promptly hit Kyouya on the head.

* * *

"MOM! What is this?" Kaoru was glaring at the sketches in his hands. Particularly at the elegant white dress that seemed to be the center piece of the entire line.

His mother looked up from measuring Kyouya, who was desperately trying not to laugh, "Those would be the beginning designs for your wedding, Kaoru."

Kaoru sighed, frustrated, "I know that, but why on Earth is there a dress."

"Kaoru," the Hitachiin designer turned to her son, "If we are to market this line, we will need to have a dress so that it will appeal to everyone. There's no need for you to wear it, although, I'm sure that you would look absolutely adorable in it-"

She was cut off midway as her cell phone began to ring; she glanced at the name on the phone, "Kaoru, I need to take this call; it's for work. Could you finish taking Kyouya's measurements?"

Before giving her son the chance to respond, she answered the phone and promptly dismissed herself from the room.

"I hope she realizes that I absolutely refuse to wear a dress."

Kyouya looked at the boy, curiously, "Why is it such a big deal if you wear a dress for our wedding? I know for a fact that they look good on you; you've worn one for the Host Club before, so why is it such a big deal for you to wear one now?"

Kaoru thought for a moment while retrieving the measuring tape from the nearby table; he ran the measuring tape around Kyouya's chest before beginning to speak, "It's not that I mind wearing a dress in general, but I'm not such a fan of the implications that come with me wearing a dress to our wedding. Everyone already thinks of me as the girl in this engagement and wearing a dress would just reaffirm everyone's suspicions."

Kaoru moved on to Kyouya's waist; Kyouya tried to think of an appropriate response, "You aren't a girl, Kaoru."

Kaoru looked up at Kyouya and smiled, "I know, but I can completely understand why everyone thinks of me as one. You're bigger than me and older than me and I act shy in front of you and if we were to…well… I would be the submissive one. I know all of this, and I don't necessarily mind it, but on my wedding day, _our_ wedding day, I want to be me without everyone thinking all of those things."

"You don't have to wear it, Kaoru. Although, I still think you would look amazing in it," Kyouya smirked down at Kaoru.

Kaoru shook his head, but laughed nonetheless. "Spread your legs, Kyouya."

Kyouya looked down at him with an eyebrow raised, but spread his legs anyways. Kaoru groaned; everything he said was coming out the wrong way lately.

"I need to measure your inseam, Kyouya. Would you like to hold the top of the tape yourself or do you mind if I do it?"

"Well, you are the designer, Kaoru. I'm sure that you will do a better job than I will. Besides, we are engaged; if we were marrying for love rather than because of an apple, there would be no awkwardness with you venturing near there."

Kaoru blushed slightly and nodded. He carefully placed the measuring tape, taking care to make it the least awkward possible. He pulled away, having taken all the measurements that he needed, glad that it was over with. Normally he was never uncomfortable measuring people; it was his job and it wasn't as if he was simply trying to feel his client up.

However, after all off the innuendo that had taken place that afternoon, Kaoru was quite flustered by measuring Kyouya. He knew that it was ridiculous, especially since they were engaged, but he couldn't help it; Kyouya just made him act so weird sometimes.

"All right, all done." Kaoru quickly finished recording Kyouya's measurements, "I'm sure my mom will have some prototypes for us to try on soon and in the meantime I can edit some of the sketches to personalize the outfits for our wedding."

Kyouya nodded in agreement, "Being that tomorrow is Saturday, we should probably begin planning more of the details for the wedding. I believe that we have an appointment to look at cakes and flowers tomorrow afternoon."

"Don't we need to set a date for the wedding, Kyouya?"

Kyouya sighed, obviously saddened, "As much as I would have enjoyed choosing a wedding date, our wedding has been very much based on business from the start, and, therefore, my father has seen fit to plan the wedding around his business partners so that they will all be able to attend. We need to be prepared to be married at anytime, for I don't believe he has found a suitable date as of yet, but it could be coming up very soon."

Having packed up their things, the couple removed themselves from the room, waved a small goodbye to Kaoru's mother, who was still on the phone, and made their way to the car.

"Kyouya," Kaoru began as the car started to move, "Why did you sound upset that we would not be able to set a date ourselves? This engagement has been about the companies from the start, and you, of all people, I would have thought would have wanted the marriage to be as profitable as possible."

Kyouya sighed and looked at his fiancé, "While it is all based on business, I had always hoped that when I got married, even if it was for the company, that I would be able to choose everything about it; it's our special day and we should be able to decide when it will take place." He smirked, "Besides, I'm sure that I could make it more profitable than my father."

Kaoru sighed at Kyouya's added sentence; it had been such a good answer up until that point. "So, the Shadow King is a bit of a romantic?"

Kyouya glared at the boy sitting across from him, "Tell anyone and I will hurt you."

Kaoru chuckled, knowing that, despite his words, Kyouya didn't have the power to truly threaten him anymore, now that they were engaged.

* * *

Kyouya and Kaoru arrived home just in time to have dinner. Fortunately, for Kaoru, it seemed that normal dinners at the Ohtori house were not as extravagant as the one that he had experienced last night.

The dinner that he had experienced tonight was much more pleasant; there were fewer courses, and, therefore, the dinner did not last as long. Also, because it was no longer a special day, the house was not full of the entire Ohtori family; Kyouya's brothers' were working and attending to their own wives.

Kyouya's father graced them with his presence for dinner that evening, but he did not remain long, having some pressing business to attend to. Kaoru sighed as Kyouya's father left the room.

"Glad that it is just us now?" Kyouya chuckled at Kaoru's obvious relief.

Kaoru sighed, "It's not that I mind him, but he is just so focused with business."

Kyouya cocked his head to the side, staring curiously at the boy, "Am I not also very focused on business?"

Kaoru thought for a moment, continuing eating his dinner, before speaking, "You are very focused on business, Kyouya, but you have a different way of going about it. Your father is strictly about business and everyone knows that; you used to be the same way. Now though, you gain friendships and connections, and, although you do use them to help strengthen the company, you are able to connect with people on a level above business. Your connections with people are always stronger than your father's because, since they know you in some way other than just as a member of the company, they are more willing to help you and your company. That's why you're going to be more successful than any other member of your family."

Kyouya was shocked by Kaoru's words; he had noticed this change in himself a few months ago; however, he had never expected anyone else to notice. "Thank you, Kaoru."

Kaoru merely smiled and handed his empty plate to the maid whom had come to retrieve it. "Let's go upstairs, Kyouya."

* * *

Each boy had retired to his own room after dinner, wanting a bit of time to think on their own.

Kyouya had immediately gotten to work on his laptop, not having a problem with the silence in his room. Kaoru, on the other hand, had tried to read a book. Unfortunately, he had never been much of a loner, and, having been used to always having his twin attached to his side, the silence in his room was beginning to become too much for him.

He needed to do something about his boredom, before he drove himself insane. Kaoru quickly threw his book down and sprung out of his room into the hallway, deeming that it would be more proper to enter Kyouya's room from the hallway entrance.

Kaoru knocked on the frame of the door, before stepping into Kyouya's territory. The aforementioned boy was sitting at his desk, typing furiously away on his laptop. He glanced upwards at the sound of someone entering his room; he merely nodded and offered Kaoru a small smile, before returning to his work.

Kaoru stepped further into the room and glanced around. He had been in Kyouya's room before, but he had never really paid any attention to the atmosphere of the room before. The walls were covered in a deep blue paint with silver trim framing the ceiling. There were twin bookshelves along one side of the wall.

Kaoru wandered over to them, curious as to what Kyouya spent his time on, other than work. The top few shelves were lined with business journals and economic guides. However, as Kaoru went further down the bookshelf, he finally met books that were not associated with business in the least. There were classic novels, epic poems, and, as he continued down, Kaoru began to see more modern texts, most of which were adventure or mystery novels. However, as he reached the very bottom of the bookshelf, Kaoru could not stop himself from bursting out in laughter; Kyouya owned the entire Twilight Saga.

Kyouya glanced up from his work at the sound of Kaoru's delightful laugher; he groaned as he saw where the boy was located. "Tamaki insisted that I read them; he really wants us to cosplay as the characters, so I needed to research."

Kaoru continued to giggle, but did not press the matter further, knowing that Kyouya would become annoyed. "Speaking of Tamaki, the only pictures in here are of you and him, Kyouya."

Kyouya spoke while continuing to work, "Tamaki took them all and hung them throughout the room; he said it was proof of our friendship."

"Oh, well then we're going to need to take some together then." Kyouya looked up curiously, prompting Kaoru to continue, "We are supposed to have been dating for a while, and now we're getting married; it would be rather odd for you to have pictures of you and another man instead of with your boyfriend."

"Yes, you are right." Kyouya closed his laptop with a snap, "We can get the Host Club to take pictures of them." He paused for a moment, thinking, "We can even sell some of them for a profit at the club."

Kaoru shook his head; Kyouya knew how to turn anything profitable.

"Kaoru, I'm going to take a shower. You're welcome to stay in here if you would like." Kyouya walked towards the bathroom and shut the door, leaving Kaoru alone in his bedroom.

Kaoru grinned; now was the perfect time to find out what Kyouya wrote in his notebook. He glanced around the room, trying to locate the object. His eyes finally landed on Kyouya's desk.

He approached it cautiously; he knew that he had every right to look around his fiancé's room, but it felt like he was invading Kyouya's privacy. Kaoru shook away his thoughts and sat down on the chair that Kyouya had occupied only moments ago.

For a moment, he thought about looking at Kyouya's laptop, curious as to what he had been so occupied with, but stopped himself, knowing that that would be taking his investigation too far.

He grinned as he spotted the notebook, lying innocently on the table next to the laptop. He carefully picked it up and brought it closer to himself, inspecting the cover carefully.

Eventually, Kaoru worked up the courage to open the notebook, expecting to see notes scribbled on the pages and secrets pertaining to everyone that Kyouya knew. However, instead he was greeted by blank pages.

Kaoru stared at the pages, puzzled; he was sure that he had seen Kyouya write in his notebook earlier, so why on Earth was it blank? "Looking for something, Kaoru?"

Kaoru jumped at the voice that had purred in his ear, "Kyouya?"

The elder boy leaned down and put his chin on Kaoru's shoulder, so as too look at the notebook with the younger boy.

Kaoru sighed; it didn't seem that Kyouya was mad, "I was just curious as to what you're always writing in your notebook, Kyouya."

Kyouya chuckled; his fiancé, it seemed, was a very curious person. "If you're wondering why this one is blank, it is because it is new; I just replaced it this afternoon."

Kaoru was disappointed; he really wanted to know what was inside the notebook, so he turned on his Hitachiin charm and looked up at Kyouya with wide eyes, "Will you tell me what you write in them, Kyouya?"

Kyouya shook his head as he saw the act that Kaoru was trying to pull, but decided to humor him anyway, "Anything and everything, Kaoru. I write down whatever I observe or think and any information that I collect."

Kaoru nodded, satisfied with Kyouya's answer, "So it's like your diary, Kyouya."

Kyouya sighed at the sight of Kaoru's smirk, "I prefer to think of it as a notebook, but I guess you could call it that if you would like to."

Kaoru was about to respond, but was cut off as he involuntarily yawned.

"Are you tired, Kaoru?"

Kaoru hadn't realized how tired he was until this moment; for his fatigue had just hit him like a train, "Yes, Kyouya. I'll return to my room now to sleep."

Kaoru began to stand and made to move towards the door; however, Kyouya grabbed his arm and stopped him from leaving.

"Don't be ridiculous, Kaoru; you and I both know that you will get no sleep by yourself; you will be too cold."

"Kyouya, you really don't need to do this."

Kyouya sighed and began to drag the other boy towards his bed, "Nonsense Kaoru. We are not going to go through this again. You may sleep in here with me. I need to finish a few things for work, but I can bring my laptop over to the bed."

Kaoru submitted to Kyouya's will and sat on the bed, sliding his body underneath the covers. He admired the bed as Kyouya retrieved his laptop. It was covered by a large canopy that Kaoru was sure Kyouya used to block out the sun in the mornings. The sheets were silk and felt wonderful on his skin; clearly Kyouya took great pleasure in sleeping on this bed.

Kaoru sighed as Kyouya came back to the bed and slipped under the covers as well. Kyouya propped himself up against the pillows, resting his laptop on his lap. He leaned over and turned off the lights in the room, hoping that Kaoru would be able to get some rest.

Kaoru snuggled back into the pillows on the bed and closed his eyes. He found the sound of Kyouya typing comforting and allowed it to lull him asleep, vaguely hearing someone tell him good night as he finally succumbed to slumber.

Kyouya tried to focus on his work, but it was so hard with Kaoru sleeping next to him. The boy kept sighing softly and Kyouya couldn't help but to want to go to sleep himself.

Eventually, Kaoru rolled over in his sleep and wound his arms around Kyouya's waist. At that point, Kyouya gave up any attempt that he was feebly holding onto to work any longer.

He thought for a moment; normally he placed his laptop on his desk, so that it would not get ruined, but, as he glanced down at the boy who was gently holding onto him, he didn't want to disturb the peacefully sleeping boy. He decided upon making an exception to his normal routine, and carefully leaned down to place the laptop on the floor.

Kyouya slid himself down further under the covers and readjusted Kaoru so that the boy was using his chest for a pillow. He sighed in content and, in a few moments, he was fast asleep.

* * *

Kaoru's eyes slowly blinked open as his body was accustomed to getting up early. He glanced at the nearby clock, and remembering that it was a weekend, could not justify himself waking up this early. Besides, it wouldn't be worth all the effort to wake Kyouya up when their appointments weren't until later in the day.

He closed his eyes once more and snuggled further into Kyouya's chest, breathing in his scent. In a few moments, he had fallen back asleep, hoping to rest for a few more hours.

Unfortunately, neither boy was able to sleep for much longer.

Kyouya groaned at the commotion that was taking place in his bedroom; he could hear Tamaki speaking loudly about accompanying them on their wedding errands, for that was something that he had always wanted to experience.

Kyouya, however, didn't care, "Get out!" He rolled over, successfully trapping Kaoru beneath him, and attempted to bury his head in the other boy's shoulder, trying to block out the lights and sounds.

Kaoru sighed; he had really wanted to sleep in this weekend. He looked over at the Host Club members, who, as it seemed, hadn't noticed Kaoru's presence until now. The youngest twin attempted to ignore the looks on their faces, for neither of them had worn shirts to bed and he knew what is must look like, but he decided to address that matter later, prioritizing Kyouya's state of mind, so that he wouldn't kill them all for disturbing his sleep.

Kaoru spoke softly while rubbing Kyouya's back gently, trying to soothe the other boy, "I suggest that you all wait for us downstairs and help yourselves to some breakfast. I'll take care of Kyouya."

Haruhi's eyes light up at the prospect of food and immediately grabbed Tamaki and dragged him out of the room. The rest of the Host Club followed suit, leaving Kaoru and Kyouya alone.

"Kyouya," Kaoru spoke softly, trying to persuade his fiancé, "Can you let me up? I need to shower."

Kyouya only groaned in response, refusing to move. Kaoru exhaled; he was going to have to do this the hard way, and it was going to be very embarrassing, but it was necessary.

He moved his legs slowly, bringing them so that they wrapped around Kyouya's waist; his arms followed suit. Kaoru moved quickly, using his momentum to switch their positions, placing Kyouya beneath him.

Kaoru looked down at Kyouya with a slight blush on his cheeks, but smiled softly when he saw Kyouya blinking at him confusedly. He leaned down, whispering softly in his ear, "I am going to shower. You can sleep for a little while longer; I'll wake you up when I'm done."

Kyouya sighed gratefully, happy that he would be able to sleep more.

Kaoru chuckled as he removed himself from the bed; Kyouya acted so _cute_, in an 'I'm going to kill you' sort of way, when he was tired.

* * *

Haruhi looked up from happily eating her pancakes to see Kyouya and Kaoru entering the dining hall a half an hour later. Kyouya seemed to be in an oddly good mood for being awoken only a short while ago.

The engaged couple sat down at the table with their friends, quickly becoming the center of attention.

Honey looked at Kaoru with wide eyes, "How did you wake up Kyou-chan so easily, Kao-chan?"

Kaoru sighed; he had expected this question, "He didn't get much sleep last night, Honey-sempai, so I let him sleep a little bit longer while I showered."

Tamaki and Hikaru choked on their orange juice at the same time, remembering that neither boy had appeared to have any clothes on while they were in bed, "Why didn't you get much sleep last night?!"

Kyouya decided to answer honestly, instead of teasing his fiancé, since he had allowed him a few more moments of precious sleep this morning, "I had to work late last night in order to finish a project for the company; it was nothing out of the ordinary."

Kaoru sighed in relief, glad that Kyouya had chosen to humor him, but groaned as Haruhi decided to be her blunt self, "But why were you sleeping _together_?"

He sighed, remembering that Haruhi had not been present when he had explained the situation to Hikaru, "I'm not used to sleeping on my own and so sleeping by myself was very cold. Therefore, Kyouya allowed me to sleep in the same bed as him so that I would not be as cold."

Haruhi looked at both boys strangely, "But why don't you just turn up the heat in your room, Kaoru?"

"Oh, I hadn't thought of that. I suppose I could turn the heating system in my room up a few degrees."

"No, Kaoru," Kyouya began, glaring at Haruhi, "You cannot. Each room in the house is set at the same temperature and it would be far too expensive to turn up the heat in your room."

Kaoru nodded and accepted the answer, having not really wanted to sleep on his own.

Haruhi, however, was not satisfied by this response, so she mumbled under her breath, hoping that no one would hear her, "Rich Bastards lying about money just so they don't have to admit that they like sleeping with each other…"

Kyouya glared, "What was that, Haruhi? Do I need to increase your _debt_?"

Haruhi groaned; the Shadow King must have heightened senses, "Nothing sempai."

Kaoru sighed; what was supposed to be an uneventful, simple wedding planning day seemed to be turning into pure chaos.

* * *

A/N: Thanks again for reviewing on the last chapter! Once again, your thoughts or comments would be greatly appreciated :)

Unfortunately, I am starting school again school, so I probably won't be able to update until sometime next weekend.


	5. Chapter 5: An Evil Heated Mattress Pad

A/N: I am so sorry that this is so ridiculously late. However, now I am out of school other than my internship that will end after next week so updates will come much sooner. I actually wrote most of this chapter the other day in a heliophysics lab, which was pretty entertaining. Anyways enjoy :)

* * *

Kyouya sighed as he stood outside of his house, his arm around Kaoru. The members of the Host Club were buzzing with excitement around them, looking forward to the afternoon's activities. He glared at the three cars in front of them, almost as if he was trying to blame them for the current state of affairs.

"It might not be so terrible, Kyouya," the shorter boy commented, trying to keep his fiancé at bay.

"Oh really, Kaoru," Kyouya cocked his eyebrow, "Honey-sempai in a cake shop, and Tamaki just being there in general doesn't seem problematic to you?"

Kaoru sighed, knowing that Kyouya was probably right, "Well, at least Honey-sempai and Mori-sempai will be able to help us pick out a cake, since they are so experienced in the area." He paused for a moment, glancing over at the rambunctious blonde boy, "And as for Tamaki, I'm sure Haruhi will attempt to keep him in control. Besides, we will be in a public place; I'm sure my lord will behave since we will be visiting places that his father does business with."

Kyouya's eyes followed Tamaki, knowing that, despite all of Haruhi's efforts, the boy would find some way to ruin the evening.

Kaoru shivered as he gazed up at his fiancé; the light was glinting off of his glasses, making him look almost evil.

Kyouya smirked and nodded towards his elders, signaling for the older boys to take their leave. As Mori-sempai and Honey-sempai ventured into their car, Kyouya walked over to the remaining Host Club members, dragging Kaoru along with him.

"Tamaki," his voice cut through the chatter of the three before him, "It's time to go; our first appointment is at the flower shop. We will meet you there."

Kyouya quickly turned around and swiftly dragged Kaoru to the car, not letting him protest.

Once they were safely within the confines of the car, Kaoru spoke, "Kyouya, I thought that our first appointment was at the bakery. Was there a change with our appointment?"

Kyouya smirked once more, "No, there wasn't, Kaoru."

Kaoru rolled his eyes at his fiancé's deviousness; now they wouldn't have to deal with Tamaki, Haruhi, or Hikaru while tasting cakes.

* * *

Kyouya sighed as they arrived at the bakery, glad that it would be a much more peaceful event now that Tamaki would not be present.

He glanced towards Kaoru as his driver opened the door to the car, "We're going to really need to turn up the act now, Kaoru. I'm sure the press will be watching our every movement today."

Kaoru nodded and accepted Kyouya's hand as he stepped out of the car, "I really don't think that it's going to be an issue, Kyouya; I'm starting to get used to this." To prove his point, Kaoru leaned up and planted a small kiss on the elder boy's cheek, grinning at the surprised look on his fiancé's face.

Kyouya glanced down at the boy next to him curiously; he seemed to be becoming more comfortable around him and much bolder in his actions. Not that he was complaining; this was a good sign. They had only been together for a few days and they were already becoming much more comfortable with each other; maybe this marriage would work out much better than he had originally expected.

They approached the store hand-in-hand, only to be stopped by a mob of the paparazzi. The two boys sighed; they had expected this, but not so early on in their day.

Kyouya grabbed onto Kaoru tightly, pulling him firmly against his chest, not wanting the boy to be harmed by the vultures that surrounded them. He knew that his fears were irrational; Kaoru had grown up in the spotlight just as he had, but he couldn't help himself. Besides, he was sure that the public would love the image of him protecting his fiancé, which could turn into quite a profit.

Kaoru smiled and leaned into the elder boy's chest; now it was time to put on a show. He addressed the man in front of him, who held a microphone in his hand. "What is your question?"

The man's eyes gleamed, as he was chosen to speak to the lovers before him, "The public is very curious to know the story behind your romance. Could you please share the tale behind your getting together?"

Kaoru sighed, for he had been hoping for something more exciting; they had already answered this question. However, he supposed that this time he would be able to go more in depth into the tale.

"Well, for the first few months that we knew each other our relationship was rather normal, simply that of a sempai and a kohai. Slowly I began to grow closer to Kyouya since my brother and I had become more independent once we reached high school. Eventually I realized my feelings for him, but I remained quiet because I doubted that he could ever feel the same as me. I was absolutely ecstatic when Kyouya sent me roses to announce his affection."

Kaoru smiled as he saw the effect his words had on the crowd; they seemed enthralled. Kyouya smirked, noticing this effect as well, and began to speak, not wanting to let Kaoru have the entire spotlight.

"Actually gentlemen," he turned on his Host Club charm, "Although I did not reveal anything to Kaoru until much later on, I had always been aware of my feelings towards my fiancé. I had seen him at various company functions and had always been drawn to his quiet spirit. My affection for him merely grew once we met each other at school and eventually I could no longer hide my adoration for him."

"Oh Kyouya," Kaoru looked up at his fiancé with adoring eyes, thoroughly enjoying the show that they were putting on; he _loved_ telling tales. They stood like that, looking into each other's eyes, hoping that someone would ask the question that they both had an answer planned for.

"Why didn't you two reveal your relationship to the public initially?"

Kyouya smirked; this was the question that he needed, for it would allow him to create a profit for the company in the future.

"Firstly, we are both very private people, so we wanted to keep our relationship to ourselves. Secondly, neither of us wanted to endanger our companies. If we had revealed our relationship sooner the companies could have clashed depending on the status of our relationship, which not only could have harmed our families, but also would have placed too much pressure on us."

Kaoru shook his head, realizing what Kyouya was doing, and decided to chime in, "Also, we never really were planning on announcing our relationship to the public. As Kyouya mentioned, we are both rather private and prefer it when our personal lives only involve us. Our engagement was supposed to be private; we weren't even planning on actually getting married, although we both had discussed it before. We didn't want our relationship to become political."

Kyouya took over the story, explaining his method of engagement, "We had both learned of the ancient Greek tradition at Ouran and I thought that it would be the perfect way to connect myself with Kaoru privately. We both knew the meaning of the apple, but no one else would have needed to know. Luckily for us, Mr. Kotas was present that evening and realized the meaning behind our actions. He revealed our engagement to my father and the people present that evening.

"While originally we hadn't planned to be open about our relationship, I can say that we both are very happy to be able to be honest to everyone about our connection. I am absolutely blissful that we will be able to now marry each other in the public eye."

Kyouya smiled and pulled Kaoru closer to him, "Now if you will excuse us, gentlemen, we need to pick out a cake for our wedding."

The two left the crowd of men that surrounded them and entered the store. As soon as they breached the entrance, Kaoru burst into laughter.

"What is so funny, Kaoru?"

Kaoru gasped for air, trying to answer Kyouya, "As if you would ever do any of that, Kyouya! Are you trying to make yourself seem like a hopeless romantic?"

Kyouya smirked at his fiancé's words, "Actually, yes. In my brothers' case, they never really had the support of the female population since they were so cold to the public. I figured that this would be a great opportunity to appeal to the female population. Besides, it isn't that far fetched; they all seemed to have bought it."

Kaoru chuckled at Kyouya's ability to turn anything profitable and walked over to the man, pulling him into a comfortable embrace. Kyouya looked at Kaoru curiously.

"In case you haven't noticed, Kyouya, they're still taking pictures of us. I thought that this would be a nice pose."

Kyouya smirked at the younger boy's deviousness; he was always able to put on a show. He leaned forward and placed his head atop the youngest twin's.

"I thought this might be a better position," Kyouya inhaled the other boy's scent, "Kaoru, did you use my shampoo again?"

Kaoru sighed into Kyouya's shirt, "Yes, I did. It smells much better than mine and I can't seem to get enough of it."

Kyouya chuckled, "It's a one of a kind scent, you know, made especially for me, but you can use it because it smells very good on _you_, Kaoru. It marks you as _mine_." He leaned down looking into Kaoru's eyes, but before he could do anything further, the two eldest members of the Host Club interrupted.

"Kyou-Chan! Kao-Chan!" Honey-sempai bounced around the room, happily, excited that they were inside of a bakery.

The engaged couple broke apart reluctantly, smiling at the sight of the older boy. As they looked upon the scene unfolding before them, neither boy could contain their chuckling; it seemed that Honey-sempai was rather acquainted with the owner of the bakery as he was proceeding to tackle the older man with a hug.

The pair walked towards the tackled man, greeting Mori-sempai on their way. The older man gently pried the energetic boy off of him and greeted the couple, "Shall we get started?"

He led the four boys into the back of the bakery where his office was located. Kaoru looked around the room, curiously. He had expected something different; most of the offices that he was used to were very cold. This room, however, despite the lack of décor, gave off a warm feeling; he supposed that it was due to the nature of the work that took place inside of it. This person dealt with joy; he created edible art for any occasion. Kaoru hoped that, in the future, his own office would give off the same sort of feel.

"I have a few new samples that I would like you to try if you would be so kind," the baker directed his words to the smallest boy in the room. Honey jumped around excitedly, "Come on, Takashi! Let's go!"

Honey left the room with Mori trailing behind him, faithfully. Now only the engaged couple remained with the baker.

"I figured that you two would rather discuss your wedding as a couple without their presence. Honey and Mori certainly know much about cakes, but I assume you want this to be more personal."

Kyouya smiled in his business-like manner, starting to act as if this matter was a business deal rather than a personal experience, "Yes, we are very grateful for your insight."

However, before Kyouya could continue his thought, Kaoru interrupted while leaning over to grasp his fiancé's hand, squeezing it to emphasize his words, "We really want to make our wedding as perfect as possible so that it reflects our love for each other. Do you have any recommendations for the number or type of cakes that we should have before we begin?"

The baker nodded, "For the size of your wedding, I would recommend three cakes of the largest volume. As for the type of cake, it is always nice to have more than one flavor that way everyone present will be able to enjoy it."

Kaoru seemed pleased with his response, but Kyouya had something more to add, "Actually, originally I had pictured three cakes as well, but now that I know that I'm marrying Kaoru, I wish for four cakes."

The baker began to speak, but before he had the chance to utter a sound, Kaoru cut him off, "Kyouya, there is no reason to have four cakes, that is far too many. It is not as if I'm going to eat all of that cake."

"Kaoru," Kyouya looked at his fiancé, "It has nothing to do with the amount of cake. Traditionally, with three cakes, one would be chocolate, another would be vanilla, and the final cake would be marble."

Kaoru attempted to cut him off, but Kyouya silenced him with a look, "But that will simply not do for us. You wouldn't be able to have your favorite cake if we were to merely have three. We _must_ have a fourth cake that is vanilla with strawberry filling. That cake will be for us and our close friends, alone."

Kaoru smiled; strawberry was his favorite flavor, "Four cakes would be wonderful."

"Alright, well then, shall we proceed to pick out the style of the cakes?"

Both boys nodded their heads in affirmation and followed the baker into the main room.

* * *

Kaoru sighed in relief as he finally reached his sanctuary. They had finally decided upon cakes that were decorated with various kinds of edible flowers, and had hoped to make a swift get-away. However, their dreams were shattered when they were once again mobbed by the press.

Kyouya had quickly pulled Kaoru through the large crowd and had practically thrown him into the limousine, following into the safety thereafter.

The two let out a breath of relief as their car pulled away from the bakery.

Kaoru was exhausted. Being in the spotlight was nothing all that new to him, but he had never been targeted so directly before. Usually it was his parents that were the focus of the attention, and even when the camera turned to Kaoru, he had always had Hikaru beside him to shield him from the limelight.

He was very grateful that he had Kyouya beside him. In fact, Kyouya was much better at shielding Kaoru than Hikaru ever had been, but the attention was so much more direct because the elder boy was next to him. He didn't mind it all that much, but it was just very tiring.

Kyouya glanced over at the boy next to him, seeing how he seemed to be trying to melt into the cushion that he leaned against. He smiled at his fiancé and pulled him into his side, allowing him to use his chest as a pillow; it's not that Kyouya wanted the contact for himself, although he had to admit that it was quite pleasant having the younger boy against him, but he figured that his own body was more comfortable than the cold cushions of the limousine.

Kaoru sighed in content at the warmth that greeted him, and snuggled further into Kyouya's side; he craved the heat that his fiancé was giving off.

Kyouya chuckled at Kaoru's cat-like nature and allowed himself to relax as well, bracing himself for the chaos that would greet them at the flower shop.

* * *

Kaoru was shaken awake by his fiancé upon their arrival to the flower shop. He glanced out of the windows nervously, hoping not to see an army of people armed with cameras. His eyes lit up at the clear pathway to the shop, not lined with people.

He took Kyouya's offered hand and stepped out of the car; he looked up at him with hopeful eyes, "Do you think they've decided to leave us alone?"

Kyouya simply replied, "It appears so." However, he knew his statement not to be true; he had called ahead and had ordered his personal guards to block off the roadways from all paparazzi, but how could he tell that to such a hopeful face and shatter his fiancé's dreams?

Kaoru grinned at Kyouya's response and attached himself to one of Kyouya's arms as the strolled into the shop that lie before them. He knew that technically he didn't need to cling on to Kyouya, since it appeared that no one was around, but he justified it by the chance that their might be some sneaky vulture of a person hanging around.

Kyouya smiled at Kaoru's actions, and opened the door in front of them, glad that the younger boy was beginning to become comfortable around him.

As they stepped through the entrance, they were greeted by their angry comrades.

"What took you so long, Kyouya? We've been waiting for hours!" An enraged Tamaki took a step forward towards the couple.

Kaoru smiled, trying to calm their idiotic lord, knowing that Kyouya did it on purpose, "We were at the bakery, my lord. That was where our first appointment was."

"But Kyouya," the elder boy continued to whine, "You told us to come to the flower shop first."

"You must me mistaken, Tamaki," Kyouya's glasses glinted in the light, "I'm sure that I told you to meet us at the bakery."

Haruhi attempted to defend Tamaki; however, Kyouya silenced her with a look that promised an increase to her debt if she spoke out against him.

Instead, she chose to comfort him, ushering him off to look at the different types of flowers.

Hikaru, however, remained with the couple, staring at them curiously; it seemed to him that the two men had grown much closer over the past few days, especially because of the physical contact that they were now displaying. Kaoru had never held another person like that, other than Hikaru, and it slightly irked the elder of the twins.

"Hikaru," the elder twin was broken out of his reverie by his younger brother, "Is something wrong?"

Hikaru glanced at his twin's face, seeing the look of happiness upon it; he knew that this marriage was fake, and originally he had planned to sabotage it, but, now, he didn't think that he could do that to his brother, for it would shatter his joy.

"No," Hikaru responded somewhat melancholy, "Everything is alright." The elder twin walked off to join the other two members of the host club that were present, leaving the couple behind.

Kyouya squeezed Kaoru's side reassuringly, knowing that he was worried about his brother.

The two walked further into the shop in order to meet the head florist.

Kaoru smiled at the sight of the woman that greeted them; she seemed to be a kind, elderly lady.

She ushered them further into the shop, leading them into a large greenhouse. Their wayward comrades snuck in behind them, eager to experience the flower choosing process.

"Welcome, would you like to go with a preset flower combination or would you like to choose your own?"

Kyouya glanced at his fiancé, who didn't really seem to be paying any attention to the woman speaking; he seemed entranced by the flowers. Kaoru was glancing around with his eyes wide and inhaling the enticing aroma that surrounded him.

"I think we'll create our own combination," Kyouya answered.

The woman nodded and left, allowing the couple and their companions to choose their flowers.

Kaoru looked towards Kyouya after the woman's departure for an explanation, "Just pick out some flowers that you like."

Kaoru nodded and grabbed Kyouya's hand, dragging him through the green house, stopping at various flowers that caught his attention.

The three following looked on curiously at the two before them, for the pair seemed oddly comfortable with another under the circumstances.

* * *

After a brief while the engaged couple decided on a combination and brought their selections to the head florist. She smiled upon their arrival and as she spotted their choices, her smile brightened.

"You have selected very well; this combination is perfect for a wedding ceremony."

Tamaki, jealous that her attention was drawn more to the couple than him, pursued her reasoning, "What makes these flowers so special? I like my choices better!"

She turned towards the blond and furthered her explanation, "Each flower has a special meaning and the two that these have chosen have very special meanings. The first, Stephanotis, represents happiness in marriage, while the other, Gloxinia, represents love at first sight."

Eyebrows rose all around the room at her comment and everyone's gaze turned towards the two boys in question.

"Don't give me that look Tamaki; the meanings behind these flowers are merely assigned by hopeless romantics and nearly every flower has some sort of romantic notion attached. Pay no heed to it."

Kaoru, upon seeing his brother's skeptical look, added further to Kyouya's comment, "Seriously, Hikaru, we just picked these flowers out because they look nice and, besides, you know that Kyouya and I have not been secretly in love since we met; I wouldn't have been able to keep that from you."

Haruhi looked at the two boys strangely; she knew for a fact that not all flowers have romantic connotations, for earlier she had talked to the florist who had showed her some flowers that represented heartbreak and even a desire to kill. However, seeing the glare that Kyouya-sempai had been sporting all day towards her and her fellow Host Club members, she decided not to voice her knowledge.

The engaged couple further discussed their arrangements with the florist and the three extraneous members of the Host Club watched on as the boys interacted with each other in a very fluid manner. Eventually the group left the store, with the florist shaking her head at the two boys' naivety.

* * *

Kaoru sighed in relief as they finally returned to the Ohtori household; it had been a long day, and while he had had fun with Kyouya, it had been exhausting dealing with everyone else.

As he got out of the car, Kaoru groaned as he saw a car approaching the main gates of the house, "I suppose they think that they're staying for dinner."

Kyouya looked down at his fiancé, "Most likely; this is generally what happens after one of the Host Club's weekend outings. I didn't expect you to mind the company, especially since you hardly get to see Hikaru anymore."

"It's not that I don't want to see them, but I just wanted to relax with you; today was very eventful."

Kyouya smirked and pulled Kaoru against him, "Don't worry; we'll have plenty of time to be alone later tonight."

Kaoru's eyes widened at Kyouya's sudden actions, but eventually he relaxed into his embrace.

Hikaru let out a gasp as he stepped out of the car that the three members of the Host Club were using; there stood Kyouya and Kaoru smiling and holding each other close. He used to believe that his brother was merely acting with Kyouya, but now he was convinced otherwise; he had seen this scene before. This is how his parents used to hold each other while waiting for the two boys to return home from school when they were little. He and Kaoru had attempted to use this pose during the Host Club before, but it had never been all that believable. Now, though, Hikaru had no doubt about it. His brother was not acting; it appeared that he was truly in love with Kyouya.

He shook off his surprise and walked towards the couple, ushering Tamaki and Haruhi to follow him.

Kyouya glared as he saw Tamaki approaching them with a rather large gift in hand; he knew that this would not end well.

"Mother, we bought you an engagement present!"

Kaoru sighed and detached himself from Kyouya, opting instead to grab his hand and walk inside their house.

Once inside, Kyouya ordered for tea to be prepared and sat next to Kaoru, bracing himself for what was to come.

Kaoru accepted the package that was thrust towards him and woefully unwrapped the paper that surrounded it. He smiled as he saw what the package contained, glad that his friends were thinking of him, but inwardly he groaned; he didn't want to change his recent evening habits.

Kyouya leaned over curiously, placing his chin on Kaoru's shoulder and sighed at its contents.

"We saw this at the store earlier while we were waiting for you and we bought one for Hikaru so that he would be able to sleep better, so we bought one for you too Kaoru, so that you no longer have to sleep with the Shadow King for warmth," Haruhi spoke with a cunning look in her eyes.

Kaoru continued to keep on his smile, hiding his disappointment, "Thank you, Haruhi. I'll be sure to install the heated mattress pad this evening so that Kyouya can sleep peacefully by himself."

Kyouya's eyes widened at Kaoru's words; it sounded as if Kaoru thought that he was a burden to him. He glared at the invading people in the room, signaling for them to leave.

They quickly excused themselves and left the couple in peace.

"You know, Kaoru," Kyouya began softly, "You don't have to use that; you could continue to stay with me."

Kaoru shook himself away from Kyouya, "No; I don't want to bother you. You have so much work to do and I'm just in the way."

Kyouya was about to protest, but Kaoru prevented him from doing so, "Besides, it's not as if we actually like each other like that."

Kaoru walked away, offering that he was going to install his new heated mattress pad, which, to Kyouya, was his replacement.

* * *

Kyouya shut his laptop with a sigh; Kaoru had been right, he did get more work done when the other boy wasn't present, but it was not as if Kaoru was a bother to him. It was true, Kaoru did distract him, but not on purpose; sometimes Kyouya would just stop to watch the younger twin's mannerisms, but he didn't really view that as a problem; after all, he still managed to get it all done, but it just took a little longer.

In fact, Kyouya thought that the other boy's presence was a good influence on him, for, when he was there, Kyouya ended up going to sleep earlier and would sleep more deeply, which was a much healthier lifestyle.

Kyouya sighed again; he seemed to be sighing a lot lately. He settled himself underneath the covers of his bed and attempted to get comfortable.

After a few moments, he let out a groan of frustration; he had never had trouble falling asleep previously, but now despite his exhausted body, his mind would not let him fall to sleep.

Something or more precisely, someone was missing.

He would have to do something about that.

* * *

Kaoru turned off the light in the room and climbed into bed, hoping for an easy sleep. Unfortunately, and not all that surprisingly, his easy rest did not come. He was far too bothered by this evening's events.

He and Kyouya had what he would classify as their first fight. He had fought with Hikaru before, many times in fact, sometimes their fights even lasted for long periods of time, but he had never been bothered by one of their fights to this extent before.

Kaoru couldn't stand that he was fighting with Kyouya. He figured that it was probably because they weren't verbally fighting; they just weren't spending time together or communicating as usual.

But deep down, Kaoru knew that wasn't the real reason that he was upset. He knew that it was because of his words earlier this evening. He had said that he didn't like Kyouya as anything more than just his sempai, but in actuality that wasn't true.

Kaoru didn't really know how he actually felt about Kyouya, but he did know that he was no longer just his sempai; he enjoyed being around Kyouya, for they had great conversations and understood each other. Physically, he also liked Kyouya; he enjoyed being held by him, for his elder was so warm and comfortable.

However, he didn't know how to classify his feelings for the other boy. He knew that he liked Kyouya, but he didn't know to what extent. Kaoru was almost glad that he didn't know the exact truth because then he would most likely start acting differently around Kyouya. Furthermore, Kaoru was afraid to upset Kyouya with his feelings, for, to him, this arrangement was just for the company and nothing was real.

Kaoru hid further under his covers. The bed was quite warm, but it was no where as near as comfortable as when he was with Kyouya.

He sighed and closed his eyes, trying to succumb to sleep.

However, as he almost gave into the darkness that was surrounding his mind, an angry, frustrated Kyouya threw open the door to their connecting bathroom.

The elder boy walked toward Kaoru, who sat up in bed curiously, shivering as the cold air hit his exposed chest.

"What's wrong Kyouya?"

Kyouya didn't respond, but merely continued his approach towards the other teen. As he was standing directly next to the seated boy he answered, "Damn that mattress pad to hell. Come to bed, Kaoru."

Kaoru would have protested as Kyouya grabbed his hand and gently dragged him to the other room, but really, this is what he had wanted all along.

Both boys sighed in relief as they lay down upon the bed, pulling the covers over themselves. This time they didn't even attempt to be separated from one another, and attached themselves to their engaged, falling into a peaceful slumber.

* * *

A/N: I'm not such a fan of the first half of this, but I was blocked when I wrote it so that is probably why.

There are pictures of the cakes and flowers in my profile if you're interested.

Reviews would be greatly appreciated.

Oh, also, would you prefer shorter chapters that are updated earlier, or the longer chapters that might take a week or two?


	6. Chapter 6:Sprinklers and Awkward Showers

A/N: I am terribly sorry for the long wait for this chapter. I worked on it a bit each day instead of just writing it in one shot as usual, but I think it might have turned out better because of it. Thanks to each and every one of you for reviewing; every time I lost motivation for this one of you would review and renew it for me :) You guys rock. I hope you enjoy this chapter! It's over 6000 words 0_0

* * *

Kaoru sighed as he as he was awoken by a loud crash that sounded as if it had come from the hallway. He groaned and buried his head further into Kyouya's shoulder, refusing to leave his warm cocoon.

Unfortunately, his dreams were shattered when the door to his room was nearly slammed open. Kaoru quickly glanced at Kyouya to make sure that he was still asleep, before gently sitting up and glaring at the intruder that dared to invade their space.

Tamaki gasped at the glare that was sent his way from an unexpected source. He had expected that Kyouya would be upset, but he had never expected Kaoru to stare at him this angrily.

He took a moment to get over the shock, and just as he was about to prepare a defense, Kaoru interrupted his thoughts, "Go downstairs. We had a very _rough_ night. You woke Kyouya up early yesterday, and I will not let you do the same today."

Tamaki blanched at the other boy's words; he had never heard Kaoru speak that way. He was becoming very influenced by Kyouya's speech patterns, it seemed. He turned and left the room, obeying Kaoru's orders.

Haruhi, however, before she left, gave Kaoru a meaningful look, prompting the boy's glare to increase in intensity.

Kaoru sighed in relief as they left the confines of Kyouya's room. At the thought of the other boy, Kaoru glanced at the space next to him. He smiled as he looked upon his fiancé's sleeping face; he was glad that Kyouya had remained asleep.

He, on the other hand, knew that he had absolutely no chance of falling asleep in the near future; however, he really did not want to deal with the people that were residing downstairs.

Kaoru sat on the bed a few moments further, thinking about his options. Having come upon a decision, he gently removed himself from the bed, glancing quickly at Kyouya to ensure that he remained in his deep slumber, and exited the room, intent on acquiring breakfast for both himself and Kyouya.

* * *

Kyouya had an odd sense of déjà vu when he woke up in the morning. He was, however, obscenely comfortable. He opened an eye blearily, expecting to see Kaoru awake, waiting for him to wake up. However, the sight that he was granted was nothing of the sort.

Next to him lie Kaoru, who was sound asleep, curled up into a ball. This was a new experience for Kyouya; he had never been the first one to wake. He was used to being woken up either by the obnoxious members of the Host Club or gently by his fiancé.

He looked at the clock curiously, wondering why his fiancé was not awake yet and whether or not he should wake him. His eyes widened in surprise at the time that greeted him; it was nearly a quarter past noon. It was no surprise to him that he slept so late, for it was the weekend after all, but, in all his years of knowing him, Kyouya had never known Kaoru to sleep in this much.

Kyouya leaned over to the boy, gently placing his hand upon the younger twin's forehead, feeling for a fever. He let out a sigh of relief as his fear was not realized; the boy's temperature was normal.

Kyouya pondered for a moment. He could not figure out why Kaoru was still sleeping; he looked around the room searching for answers. His eyes stopped upon seeing a small tray that had been placed upon the nearby desk.

He, glancing at his fiancé, gently eased himself out of the bed, and began to approach the tray, cautiously, half expecting it to be filled with the contents of one of Tamaki's ridiculous ideas. However, Kyouya sighed in relief upon seeing that the tray was merely filled with his favorite meal.

He grabbed the nearby card, hoping for some answers. Upon reading the contents, Kyouya turned back towards his fiancé and smiled gratefully; Kaoru had made sure that Tamaki had not woken him and had even taken the effort to bring him breakfast in bed.

However, as he further inspected the younger boy's form, Kyouya observed that, very subtly, his fiancé was shivering. He glanced again at the awaiting tray and decided that the food could wait; right now, Kaoru needed him. It was the least he could do since his fiancé had saved him a few hours of sleep and the annoyance of a certain Host Club member.

He moved over towards the bed, lightly placing himself upon the aforementioned object so as to not disturb the other occupant of the room. Kyouya placed himself under the covers and slid ever so softly over to the youngest twin, enveloping the younger boy with his arms.

Kaoru let out a slight sigh, rolling over so that he faced Kyouya, seeking more of the elder man's warmth.

Kyouya smiled at the sight and buried his head in Kaoru's hair, allowing himself to relax and, eventually, drift into a peaceful sleep.

* * *

Hikaru stared at the plate of food in front of him, bored out of his mind. At first, he hadn't minded waiting for the engaged couple to wake up; his brother had asked him, after all. However, after the first hour he had become bored; luckily, he was able to entertain himself with Haruhi easily enough.

After the second hour, he switched his target to Tamaki, making fun of the elder man in any way that he could.

Now though, it was the third hour, and he could no longer entertain himself. This had never happened to him before; usually, even when he was bored, he would have his twin with him, giving him at least someone to share his boredom with.

He missed Kaoru greatly. At first, it had been awkward for him. He had never had breakfast by himself, or gone alone to school before; the thought of being alone had never occurred to him. Gradually, he grew used to the empty space beside him; however, every once in a while a situation would come up in which he would feel the open space next to him.

Hikaru would usually fill that space with the nearest person, be it a member of the Host Club or even, on the rare occasion, the nearest maid in his house. Unfortunately, at this moment, Hikaru had run out of replacements and, despite his younger twin residing merely a floor above, the empty space grew and acted like a black hole, sucking the energy out of him.

He really wondered why Kaoru had still been sharing a bed with the Shadow King. Kaoru had the heated mattress pad and Hikaru knew from personal experience that it worked very well; the cold would virtually disappear.

He had considered that Kaoru was merely not able to sleep without a warm body next to him, and in fact, he desperately wanted to believe this explanation to be true, but he knew deep down that Kaoru didn't just need a body next to him. He needed Kyouya.

This was heightened by his knowledge of the past. He knew that when they were younger, sometimes Kaoru would substitute a large stuffed animal or pillow for his body if, for some strange reason, Hikaru had not been able to go to bed at the same time as him.

Although he didn't want to admit it, Hikaru had come to realize that Kaoru needed Kyouya. He didn't know exactly how to define their relationship, but he could tell that it had advanced further than just a simple game of house.

Some people viewed him as the dumb twin, and while Hikaru was aware that he wasn't the smartest person when it came to school work, he knew that he was much more perceptive than people gave him credit for, especially when it came to his twin.

He had noticed the way that his twin and Kyouya seemed to gravitate towards one another, even before they had become engaged. Before the engagement, it had been a subtle attraction, and it wasn't that Kyouya and Kaoru held lengthy conversations; in fact, part of their connection seemed to be based on the fact that they didn't _need_ to have constant conversations.

Now, however, their attraction to one another was absolutely apparent. They were always connected, whether it by a hand grasping another or an arm around a nearby shoulder. Today had proved that their connection had developed so far that they couldn't even perform a simple human necessity, such a sleep, without each other.

The two boys still claimed that their relationship was merely a farce, but Hikaru could tell that that was not true. The couple wasn't aware of it yet, but they cared very deeply for one another. Hikaru wasn't very keen on the idea of his little brother being taken away from him, but it seemed that Kyouya made Kaoru happy, and that was all that was really important.

Besides, Hikaru was pleased that Kaoru was finally standing up for himself. He wasn't exactly pleased that this newfound temper was taken out on him this morning, but it was an improvement nonetheless. He was also especially ecstatic about the effect that Kaoru had seemed to have had on Kyouya; parts of Kaoru's calming personality had been infused with Kyouya's own, making the Shadow King a bit more tolerant.

Hikaru might support their relationship, but they didn't need to know it. He might have been a little bit more open about his support if his twin hadn't been flaunting his happiness. Seriously, just because he was happy for him, didn't mean that he wanted to know about his little brother's nighttime _activities_. It was certainly very depressing; his younger twin was getting more than him.

Although, what really bothered him was how completely oblivious they were. It was quite clear that they cared for one another, but neither of them seemed to actually be aware of it. He really didn't want his brother to be with someone who didn't even care enough to admit his feelings. He knew he was the Shadow King, and under normal circumstances he wouldn't expect anything romantic from him, but this was for his little brother and he wanted the best for him. If Kyouya-sempai didn't do something soon, Hikaru was going to have to do something about it.

On this thought path, Hikaru's thoughts quickly turned towards his own romantic issues, or—more specifically—the lack thereof.

However, thankfully, before his thoughts could become all doom and gloom, the engaged couple finally graced them with their presence.

Kaoru glanced at his brother curiously, who seemed to be glaring at his and Kyouya's intertwined hands with a strange animosity. He sighed at the thought that Hikaru was still upset with the engagement, especially since he knew that he and Kyouya weren't seriously in love.

Kyouya squeezed Kaoru's hand reassuringly and they continued their assent down the staircase. He looked upon the scene in front of him warily, wondering why the Host Club had decided to visit today.

Kaoru turned towards Tamaki and, upon seeing the dejected look on the other's face, felt that he owed the elder boy an apology.

"I'm sorry for earlier, my lord; I didn't mean to offend you. I was very tired and did not mean to take out my frustrations on you." He inwardly cringed at the way the elder boy's face lit up, knowing that the newfound brightness could only mean a plan that they would not be able to refuse.

"Mother, you'll be so excited! Today we want to go for a picnic!"

Kaoru sighed in relief; he had expected a much more troublesome plan from Tamaki. However, he felt Kyouya tighten in response to words.

"Where, Tamaki, were you planning on having this picnic?"

Kyouya's fears were realized with Tamaki's next words, "Well, we were hoping to have it in the gardens."

Kyouya groaned; he had figured that Tamaki would want the picnic to take place in the Ohtori gardens, but he had hoped that, for once, his prediction would be wrong. He wasn't particularly against staying home and relaxing in his family's garden, but would have just preferred to be alone with Kaoru. Besides he had no doubt that Tamaki would manage to smash a few flowers or break a few pots.

Nevertheless, he nodded his head in affirmation, confirming that they could use the Ohtori's exclusive gardens for their picnic. Tamaki squealed with glee and quickly ran outside, aiming to find the best spot in the gardens for a picnic.

"I don't suppose he actually prepared anything for the picnic," Kyouya questioned the two remaining guests.

"I don't think so," Haruhi replied simply, following after Tamaki, deciding to leave her questioning of the engaged couple until later.

Kaoru glanced at his brother, who was still glaring at their hands intensely. "Hikaru," he began in a shaky voice, slightly unnerved by his brother's stare, "Could you go make sure that Tamaki and Haruhi don't break anything? Kyouya and I will go get the food for the picnic."

Before waiting for an answer, Kaoru dragged Kyouya along by their enjoined hands towards the nearby kitchen.

Kaoru stopped abruptly as he entered the kitchen, causing Kyouya to run into his back and, instead of backing away from the younger boy, Kyouya leaned on his back, wrapping his arms around the figure in front of him.

He leaned down, resting his head on Kaoru's shoulder, "There should be a picnic basket filled with food in the walk in pantry."

Kaoru raised an eyebrow and began moving, albeit slowly as Kyouya was still attached to his waist, "Why exactly do you have a picnic basket prepared?"

Kyouya released his grip on part of Kaoru's waist in order to reach the picnic basket which rested on a shelf just out of the younger boy's reach, "I had a feeling that Tamaki would want to have a picnic at some point so I've had the cook prepare one each weekend."

Kaoru chuckled slightly to himself, taking great amusement in his fiancé's foresight. He took the picnic basket that Kyouya offered and leaned back into the older man's embrace. He really didn't want to go out into the gardens; not because he didn't like the space—in fact he loved the Ohtori gardens—but because of the people currently in the gardens.

He loved his brother and greatly enjoyed the other members' presence, but right now he would rather just relax with Kyouya after all the excitement from yesterday, especially since the eldest members of the Host Club were not present; the elder boys were able to distract the other members, and with them gone, Tamaki, Haruhi, and Hikaru would be even more energetic than usual.

They stayed like that for a few more moments, taking comfort in each others' embrace, before moving out of the kitchen and into the gardens in search of their friends.

* * *

Kyouya was pleased once he and Kaoru finally made it to the area where the other members of the Host Club resided. It seemed that they had found a blanket and had managed set up without breaking anything or damaging the Ohtori grounds, which, to him, seemed like a miracle.

Kaoru moved away from Kyouya to place basket in the middle of the blanket so that everyone would have easy access, and, as the whicker bottom hit the ground, he was quite literally swept off his feet.

He landed softly on the ground and looked behind him curiously; he was pretty sure who the culprit was—he would recognize that scent anywhere—but he couldn't stop himself from confirming his suspicions. Kaoru smiled as his eyes landed upon Kyouya's smirking face.

He had been lifted and placed between his fiancé's legs, and Kyouya's long arms had encircled his torso, resting on the lower part of his abdomen. Kaoru sighed in comfort—he always craved Kyouya's warmth—and brought his own arms up to grasp at his forearms. (1)

The other members looked on curiously, wondering why the two boys were putting on such an act in the comfort and safety of their own home; after all there was no place safer than the Ohtori complex. However, their shock was more due to the person who had instigated this romantic display.

Even if Kaoru and Kyouya had been in a real relationship, no one expected Kyouya to be the one who initiated physical contact—let alone in front of other people. They had always imagined that Kaoru would have started everything, having to heavily coerce the elder boy. They had never seen Kyouya so open or active before. The other members were used to a cold, calculating Kyouya, not a cuddly one.

Kaoru looked away from his fiancé at the sudden lack of chatter surrounding them, and, at the stares he was receiving, he raised an eyebrow in confusion.

Hikaru countered his raised eyebrow with a question, "Why are you and the Shadow King being so affectionate? No one is going to see you here."

Kaoru cocked his head, thinking for a moment; he had never wondered why he and Kyouya had gotten so affectionate; he just usually did whatever came to mind. Kyouya saved him from answering by responding to the question on his own, "We need to practice so that when we really are in front of people, we won't have to think about how to act. This way we will look completely natural."

Haruhi rolled her eyes; she didn't believe her sempai for a second, "Is that how you explain still sleeping in the same bed."

The light glinted off of Kyouya's glasses dangerously, "No, that is because Kaoru can't sleep without warmth _all_ around his body, and, while your mattress pad provides an ample amount of the heat from the bottom, it does nothing for the rest of him."

Hikaru was about to interrupt the Shadow King and explain that since he and Kaoru are twins and since it had worked for him, it should work for the younger boy too, but Kyouya beat him to it, "No Hikaru, it is not the same for him. You two are not the same in every aspect. Besides, we're going to have to sleep in the same bed when we're married anyway."

Hikaru's eyes widened at this statement; he knew he and his brother were different, but—his mind suddenly froze as he registered the second part of the Shadow King's statement, "Wait! Why are you going to sleep in the same bed? I understand being affectionate now since you have to convince everyone that you've been secretly dating, but why would that matter once you're actually married? None of our parents are all that affectionate anyway, and I thought that you would be able to find some girl that you actually love to really be with! I don't want you to be stuck with the Shadow King alone forever!"

Kyouya's grip one Kaoru tightened at Hikaru's words, but, as most of Hikaru's mini-speech was addressed to his fiancé, he didn't feel it was his place to respond.

"Hikaru," Kaoru began shakily, "What if I don't want to find a girl?"

"Are you saying that you want to stay with this Shadow King forever? You haven't even had the chance to experience anyone else!"

"That's not what I'm saying Hikaru." Kaoru paused for a moment, taking a deep breath, "I'm saying that if I were to find someone else, it would be a boy."

Hikaru didn't respond, so Kaoru felt that he needed to further explain, "I've never looked at a girl and thought that she was cute or wanted to do anything with her. Every time I look at a girl, all I see are the flaws in her outfit. It's not like that with boys."

Not that he had ever found a flawless boy other than Kyouya, but he didn't deem that necessary to tell Hikaru.

An awkward silence hung in the air; no one liked it when the twins argued.

Tamaki broke the silence, "Let's play that commoner game you were talking about earlier, Haruhi! What was it called?"

Haruhi sighed, "Hide and seek?"

"Right," Tamaki paused glancing around the space, "Mother, you're it!"

Kyouya sighed, normally he would never play a game like this, but he felt he needed to do it to ease the tension between Hikaru and Kaoru. He nodded slightly in affirmation and began to count, closing his eyes.

Tamaki ran of excitedly, aiming to hide behind a nearby tree, with Haruhi following unenthusiastically. Hikaru glanced at his brother, aiming to catch his attention, but Kaoru sulked off before he had the chance. He looked at the Shadow King once before going off to hide on his own.

As soon as Hikaru disappeared from sight, Kyouya opened his eyes and smirked; he could clearly see Tamaki and Haruhi and he was quite sure of where each twin had hidden. However, he wasn't planning on actually playing the game; he just needed to get the other members out of the way so that he could comfort Kaoru.

Kyouya smirked and walked away from the picnic basket, directing himself under the nearby pergola which led to the Ohtori gazebo. He found Kaoru directly under it, leaning over the edge and staring into the lake below.

He glanced up at the sound of footsteps approaching him and offered Kyouya a weak smile. The elder boy smiled slightly back and leaned over the edge himself so that his and Kaoru's shoulders brushed together. He waited, knowing that Kaoru would start talking when he was ready.

Kaoru sighed; he was really upset about Hikaru's outburst. He knew that Hikaru was just worried about him, but he didn't think that it was fair that he didn't trust his own judgment. More importantly, however, he was very troubled that his own twin hadn't known about his preferences. They had lived together for 16 years and his brother hadn't even noticed something so important.

"I just wish he had noticed."

Kyouya sighed at his fiancé's words; sometimes he could just be so naïve. "For twins, you two don't seem to understand each other so well."

Kaoru raised his head in surprise; no one had ever questioned his and his brother's connection.

"I'm not saying that you don't know each other, Kaoru," Kyouya paused for a moment, thinking, "You just care about each other too much. Hikaru has never been good at properly showing his emotions; he's just worried about you."

"Buy why is he so worried? You're really not that bad. Besides, I can take care of myself."

Kyouya shook his head at his fiancé's words, "There was a time, Kaoru, when you didn't think I was all that great. He just doesn't want you to force yourself into something just for the sake of the company. You're his little brother; of course he wants to take care of you and, since you're twins, he automatically assumes that you have the same likes and dislikes as him."

"I know," Kaoru sighed once more, "He just seemed so upset."

Kyouya gently wrapped his arm around Kaoru's waist, pulling the younger boy against him, "He wasn't upset with you, Kaoru. He just was surprised at how different you've become. You're becoming your own person, which is a good thing, and Hikaru knows that, but he's just shocked; after sixteen years his entire world is changing."

Kaoru knew that Kyouya was right; it was just so difficult for him to not know what Hikaru was thinking. He leaned further onto Kyouya's shoulder, relishing in the unique smell and warmth of his fiancé.

"So," he wondered aloud curiously, "What happened to hide and seek?"

Kyouya chuckled, the vibrations tickling Kaoru's head, "Everyone is still hiding."

"You just left them there?"

Kyouya nodded and Kaoru smiled a true smile, "Maybe we should go get them."

Kyouya sighed, not really wanting to leave what seemed like their own private oasis, but he figured the sooner he found them, the sooner they would leave.

Kaoru grabbed Kyouya's hand and led him back to where the other Host Club members were hiding.

Kaoru looked up curiously as he felt a drop of water hit him, but he saw no clouds in the sky, so he ignored it, thinking it was just his imagination.

They walked further into the gardens, calling out the remaining three members' hiding places. Soon they were all gathered around the picnic basket once more, sitting in a comfortable silence.

Suddenly, however, a loud hissing noise surrounded them, and, a few moments later they all were completely soaked; it seemed that the sprinklers had been scheduled to go off.

The group dashed towards the house, attempting to escape the manmade downpour. After navigating the vast garden, the large mansion was finally in sight. Kaoru sighed in relief; he had never been such a fan of the rain, and he especially didn't like running in the rain, for he had a much greater chance of tripping with the ground slick.

Kaoru groaned as his face hit the ground; he really needed to stop foreshadowing his own demise. He pushed himself up, not enjoying the crack that sounded from his neck. He sat there for a moment simply letting the artificial rain pour down his face.

Kyouya looked on curiously as the younger twin sat in the middle of the garden, allowing himself to become completely drenched. His silly fiancé was going to get himself sick. He couldn't allow that to happen.

He walked toward the younger boy and hoisted him into his arms bridal style, which Kyouya thought very fitting considering their engagement. Kaoru gasped as he was lifted off his feet by his fiancé for the second time in a day, but wasn't really complaining as now he would get away from the harsh downpour.

* * *

Everyone shivered as they finally reached the stronghold that was the Ohtori manor. Water was dripping down their bodies and creating large puddles on the hardwood floors. Kyouya sighed; he supposed that he would have to allow them all to shower, so that none of them would get sick, for he couldn't have half of the Host Club out due to sickness; it would ruin their profits.

"You should all shower here before going home," he spoke in a tone that allowed no arguments. He led each member of the Host Club to a nearby shower, and, eventually, only he and Kaoru remained.

Kaoru expected Kyouya to lead him to another shower, wanting his own shower for himself, but, however, Kaoru's theory was proven wrong as Kyouya merely walked back towards to their connecting rooms, dragging Kaoru along with him.

As they entered Kyouya's side of the room, the aforementioned boy finally spoke, "Kaoru, you should shower first; I don't want you to get sick."

Kaoru smiled as his fiancé's gesture, but, after a moment, his face transformed to that of worry, "But what about you Kyouya? You'll get sick too if you wait for me to shower." He paused for a moment, thinking, and his face lit up at the words he was about to speak, "The shower is big enough for two people." He trailed off, not wanting to finish his statement.

Kyouya cocked an eyebrow at Kaoru's words; he knew the younger boy didn't mean anything by it, for he was just concerned for his health, but still that was such a _bold_ statement.

Kaoru's face flushed further at Kyouya's look, and he attempted to defend himself, "It's not that big of a deal, Kyouya; guys all over the world shower together in locker rooms."

Kyouya chuckled at the younger twin's words, but gave in anyway, knowing that his fiancé was right. They walked toward the bathroom, each boy a little apprehensive.

Kyouya turned on the water in the shower to the appropriate temperature, and looked behind him at Kaoru, observing the bright red color that adorned the other boy's cheeks.

Kaoru knew he had sounded comfortable with the idea of showering together with Kyouya, but, truthfully, he wasn't at all. He had only ever showered together with Hikaru, and they had stopped that when they had reached middle school. He knew that all around the world guys showered together and it didn't mean anything, but nothing like that ever happened at Ouran. Besides, this shower was much smaller than those of a locker room and much more intimate.

He could see no way around it though, for both he and Kyouya needed to shower quite soon, and, seeing as Kyouya led him back to their own bathroom, he assumed that there were no more free showers. He sighed, trying to forget his apprehensions, and lifted his shirt over his head and set it gently on the nearby counter.

Kyouya followed suit and continued further, quickly and efficiently undressing himself. He stepped into the shower and allowed the cascading water to warm up his body. He waited a moment, expecting Kaoru to join him; however, when, after a few moments, he didn't appear, Kyouya stuck his head out of the shower and looked at Kaoru curiously, "Do you plan on joining?"

Kaoru blushed again, something he seemed to be doing a lot lately, and finished undressing himself before stepping into the shower himself. He turned so that he was facing away from Kyouya, trying to make it the least awkward possible.

He grabbed the shampoo in front of him and began to wash his hair; he wanted to make this end as quickly as possible. Once he finished with his locks, Kaoru glanced around, aiming to find the body wash; however, he spotted none on his side of the shower. He groaned, for now he would actually have to interact with Kyouya inside of a shower, while they were both _naked_.

Kyouya chuckled, for he could sense his fiancé's inner turmoil, and he had a feeling that he knew the cause. He had had the same problem earlier; he had gone to wash his hair, only to realize that the shampoo was on the opposite side of the shower.

As much as he liked to tease his fiancé, Kyouya figured that he should save the teasing for another time, when they weren't in such an awkward situation. He grabbed the body wash, turned, and placed it into the younger boy's hands.

Kaoru looked up gratefully and smiled at Kyouya; however, as he noticed their position, he blushed fiercely. Kyouya's arms were wrapped around Kaoru's slender frame, so that he could place the bottle in his fiancé's hands without forcing Kaoru to turn around.

Although their skin wasn't actually in contact, Kaoru felt Kyouya's presence greatly. He accepted the shower gel and, once Kyouya moved away, resumed his normal shower routine.

* * *

Hikaru and Haruhi both exited into the hallway at the same time and nearly ran into each other as they each began walking. It seemed that Kyouya had placed them all near each other, so they walked to the nearby door, hoping to find their other companion.

They found him easily enough; he was in the next room as expected. The group of three continued down the hallway, hoping to find Kaoru next; they figured that the Shadow King would want to shower in his own room, and, therefore, that Kaoru would shower in one of the nearby rooms.

They checked each room, and despite the presence of an empty shower in each room, Kaoru was nowhere to be found. Eventually they came upon the Shadow King's room and knocked upon the door hesitantly.

Kaoru opened the door and glanced behind him, getting permission from Kyouya to allow them inside, and upon the elder boy's affirmative nod, ushered them inside.

"Kaoru," Hikaru began, "Where did you shower? And why are you in the Shadow King's room?"

Kaoru blushed slightly at the question, choosing to ignore the second part, "In my normal shower."

"Then where did Kyouya-sempai shower?"

Kaoru's blush deepened, "In his normal shower."

Hikaru thought for a moment; he remembered that Kaoru and Kyouya's rooms connected, meaning that they shared a bathroom, "So you took turns showering?"

Kaoru's blush deepened even further and Kyouya decided to put him out of his misery, "No, we didn't."

Hikaru's eyes widened, "So you showered together?"

Kyouya merely nodded, not deeming the matter important enough to speak on. Besides, as much as he enjoyed seeing Kaoru blush in embarrassment, he didn't think that he should torture his fiancé in front of his twin.

"Shouldn't you all be leaving soon? It is getting rather late and I'm sure that you are expected at home."

Despite the fact that none of the guests were actually expected at their homes, the glint in Kyouya's eyes left them no room for argument. They let themselves out of the room, but Hikaru paused for a moment, looking back at Kaoru. For some reason Hikaru felt like he was feeding his baby brother to a wolf.

* * *

Kyouya sighed in relief as they finally left. It wasn't that he hated the three visitors, but today he had just wanted to relax, and, as usual, he hadn't been able to. Now, however, with the guests gone, he would finally be able to relax.

He situated himself in the chair by his desk and grabbed his nearby notebook. He began to look through the previous notes he had written, taking note of the theme for the upcoming week of the Host Club.

Suddenly he felt a body land on top of his, and he looked up, seeing Kaoru sprawled atop him, his legs hanging over the edge of the chair. He smiled and attempted to return to his reading. (2)

Kaoru sighed at Kyouya's warmth and snuggled further back into his chest; the elder boy was just so damn comfortable. He looked down and began to read the notebook himself, excited to actually see the contents.

As hard as he tried, Kyouya could not focus on the contents of his notebook. This, in and of itself, was a concept new to him; he had never not been able to focus on his notes before. He sighed and gave up trying, knowing that with the younger boy in his lap he would never be able to concentrate.

He glanced down at his fiancé and noticed that the other boy was completely entranced by his notebook; Kyouya continued to turn the pages systematically, so that his fiancé would be able to read at a comfortable pace. He leaned down, resting his head on Kaoru's shoulder, simply inhaling the younger's scent.

He was able to relax completely around his fiancé, something he hadn't been able to do around other people before. There was something about the younger boy that simply allowed him to let go and be himself.

Kyouya wasn't a slow person; he knew exactly what was going on. He had been able to tell that had slowly been becoming inclined towards the other boy, and now he could truthfully say that he was annoyingly and hopelessly in love with Kaoru Hitachiin.

Now he just needed him to realize it.

* * *

A/N: I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Reviews with criticism, ideas and pretty much everything are appreciated!

(1) (2) For Kyouya and Kaoru's positions I was inspired by a few pictures and if you're curious to see them, the links are in my profile :)

Thanks for reading!


	7. Chapter 7:Late Arrivals,Dresses & A Fall

A/N: I really hope you guys like this chapter! I've worked pretty hard on it and have some few ideas already for the next chapter. Thanks for all the reviews guys!

* * *

Kaoru groaned as the nearby alarm clock woke him with a loud chime. He really didn't want to go to school; his weekend had already been filled with the Host Club's antics and he hadn't been able to relax at all. He paused, realizing his own thoughts; he had _never_ not wanted to go to school before.

Granted he wasn't always so keen on the school work, but he always had enjoyed spending time with his twin and his other friends. Goodness, what in the world was Kyouya doing to him?

Kaoru glanced at the clock again, thinking for a moment. Since he had taken a shower with Kyouya last night—he still blushed at the thought—he didn't need to get up for another ten minutes or so.

He supposed that he should probably reset the alarm to ensure that he would get up on time, but seeing as he would have to detach himself from Kyouya's warm embrace in order to do so, he just couldn't bring himself to do it. Besides, he had never been one to fall asleep quickly and it was only ten minutes, so there was absolutely no way he would end up being late.

After reassuring himself with these thoughts, Kaoru, unfortunately, and somewhat unsurprisingly, fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

Kaoru blinked his eyes open blearily; he had closed his eyes for a moment, but he knew that it could only have been for five minutes. He didn't bother to look at the clock; it would be a waste of energy.

He further snuggled against Kyouya's body, pondering over his fiancé's clinginess the previous night. Ever since he had sat down on Kyouya's lap, the elder boy had refused to let him go, hanging off of him the entire night. He wondered what had happened to make the other boy so protective.

Kaoru sighed and gave up on thinking, saving it for a time when he wasn't so tired. He allowed himself to relax next to Kyouya a few moments longer before finally getting up and starting his morning routine.

Kyouya exhaled, annoyed; for some reason the inside of his eyelids were completely red, as if sunlight were directly hitting him. He opened one eye cautiously, preparing to hurt whoever had dared to wake him, envisioning Tamaki holding a flashlight directly to his eye.

However, he realized his mistake once both eyes were completely open: it was a school day, so there was no way Tamaki would be here. It had, in fact, been actual sunlight that had awoken him. He paused for a moment, looking at the nearby blinds, and wondered why on earth it was so bright this early in the morning; he usually wasn't awoken by natural light until after 10.

Glancing at the nearby clock, he realized that he had made a horrible mistake; he was hours late for school. He looked to his left, expecting to find Kaoru fast asleep, but instead was greeted by a vacant place where his fiancé should have been.

He panicked for a moment; had Kaoru left him? Kyouya shook his head, trying to knock some sense into himself; he knew that he was being ridiculous, but ever since he had come to realize that he loved his fiancé, he had been overly protective of the younger boy. He was afraid that Kaoru would find out his feelings and then call off the wedding.

Kyouya knew that he was overreacting, especially since Kaoru would never call of the wedding due to the damage it would cause both companies, but he couldn't help himself; he had never been in love before, and, while he had read about it plenty of times, he didn't really know how to act around the younger boy.

He supposed that he should just act like normal and observe his fiancé's actions, waiting for an opportune moment to bring the subject up. However, until that moment, he was perfectly content with their current relationship; Kaoru would eventually realize it at some point, and there would be no merit in forcing the idea upon him.

Kyouya eased himself out of his bed, intent on finding the other boy. He walked into the nearby bathroom, finding Kaoru in the middle of brushing his teeth.

The younger boy looked at Kyouya in the mirror, curiously, wondering why he was up earlier than usual; he had never known Kyouya to wake himself up without an alarm clock being smashed in the process.

Kyouya chuckled at the look that was being directed towards him; apparently his cute little fiancé was completely oblivious to their current situation.

"Kaoru do you know what time it is?"

The aforementioned boy cocked his head curiously, "Isn't it around seven?"

Kyouya chuckled, wondering how his fiancé could be so oblivious, "No, it's a quarter after ten."

Kaoru's eyes widened as he dropped his toothbrush, "Seriously? I'm so sorry, Kyouya! I can't believe I didn't wake up on time. Now we're completely late for school."

He began to rush around, attempting to get ready at an extremely fast pace. Kyouya merely stood in the doorframe of the bathroom, observing how his fiancé was nearly hyperventilating at the thought of being late.

He walked toward the younger boy, grabbing his arm and consequently stopping him from rushing around the room.

"Don't bother, Kaoru; by the time we get there we'll only have one class left. We might as well relax and then show up for the Host Club."

Kaoru sighed audibly in relief; in actuality, he hadn't been worried about himself being late to school, but that Kyouya would be upset at him for making such a huge mistake.

"But won't we be in trouble for not showing up?" Kaoru wondered aloud curiously; he and Hikaru had skipped school before, but had always convinced one of the maids to call them in sick early in the morning.

Kyouya shook his head at the younger boy's words; clearly he hadn't grasped the power that came with being an Ohtori yet, "It won't be a problem. I'll just call in and tell them that we had an appointment for the wedding; they won't be able to argue, and someone will send us all the work that we missed today."

Kaoru grinned; the perks of being an Ohtori were certainly nice. He probably could have pulled off such a scheme with Hikaru, but not without much planning, whereas Kyouya was able to do it in one simple spontaneous phone call.

Kaoru relaxed; now they had a few hours to simply enjoy each others' company and simply unwind.

* * *

Hikaru looked around the Host Club nervously; he really hoped that his twin would show up. He had never known Kaoru want to skip school before; usually Hikaru would have to talk him into it. He was afraid that Kaoru was seriously ill or, even worse, that his twin was mad at him for his actions yesterday.

He didn't have a problem with Kaoru preferring guys at all, but it was a shock to him that his twin had never mentioned it before. It was odd having someone else know more about his younger brother than him and even stranger that his twin wasn't the same as him anymore. He knew that they weren't exactly the same, but they had always been fairly similar, and this was a rather large difference.

He hadn't meant to upset his brother, but he was simply too shocked to speak. He had no problem with it if Kaoru wanted to stay with Kyouya forever, but the way the both so clearly liked each other without acting on it irked him; his brother deserved honesty.

Hikaru sighed with relief as the engaged couple walked into the room; it seemed that his brother was ok. Kyouya smirked in his direction and Hikaru instantly got nervous; he hadn't seen that smirk in a while, not since Kaoru had come into the picture, and it always meant trouble. He really hoped that Kyouya wasn't going to pay him back for yesterday, especially since he hadn't really meant to hurt anyone's feelings.

Although, Hikaru could see one upside in Kyouya enacting revenge; it would at least show that he actually cared about Kaoru, instead of just covering everything up with the obvious "we need practice" lie.

He sighed and ran over to Kaoru, hoping that the other boy had forgiven him.

"Kaoru, where have you been all day?"

The younger twin paused, trying to decide whether or not to tell the truth. He glanced at Kyouya, hoping that the other boy would direct him; unfortunately, Kyouya merely gave him a look conveying that Hikaru was his problem.

Kyouya detached himself from his fiancé, knowing that the siblings needed to talk things out on their own, and that, as much as he wanted to support Kaoru, his presence would merely hinder their discussion. Also, he didn't want Kaoru to see his outfit for the day yet; he was sure that the boy was going to throw a fit.

"We accidentally slept in and there was no point in coming in just for one class." Kaoru paused for a moment, remembering what Kyouya had told the administration, "If anyone asks, we had appointments with various chefs around town."

Hikaru nodded in affirmation, but was really surprised that his brother was lying to the school so easily; usually he would have to literally beg his twin to go along with his plans. Clearly, Kyouya was loosening his personality in what Hikaru thought was a good way.

After being thoroughly fussed over, Kaoru led the rest of the Host Club into the back room where Kyouya would brief them on their theme for the week.

Kaoru couldn't contain his laughter as he saw the costumes in the room; poor Haruhi was going to have to wear a wedding dress.

"The theme for this week is American superheroes. I've made sure that everyone will be in small groups." Kyouya turned to the two eldest members in the room, "Mori-sempai you shall be Batman and Honey-sempai you will be Robin."

The two boys each grabbed their costumes, not complaining in the least; their roles fit them quite well.

Kyouya turned his eyes on the group of three standing to his left smirking and Kaoru smirked as well, going to enjoy seeing Haruhi have to wear a wedding dress.

"You three will be acting out part of the _Fantastic Four_ series," Kyouya was cut off by a protesting Tamaki before he could plan their roles.

"But Mom, I wanted to act out _Twilight!_"

Everyone in the room cringed at the thought of the combination of Tamaki and _Twilight_, "I refuse to endorse you walking around shirtless with glitter glued onto your chest," Kyouya paused, his eyes gleaming, "Besides, now you get to be married to Haruhi."

The aforementioned girl groaned at the idea while Tamaki's face broke out in a large smile, his protests finally ceasing, "You will be Mr. Fantastic, Hikaru will be the Human Torch, and Haruhi will be the Invisible Woman."

Both Hitachiin twins groaned at Kyouya's words. Hikaru had realized what Kyouya's revenge was; he was going to have to be around Tamaki and Haruhi acting like a married couple, while he was just her brother. Kaoru, on the other hand, had finally realized that the wedding dress was not for Haruhi, but for him. Subsequently, he had also realized that his fiancé was the devil.

Kaoru narrowed his eyes at Kyouya, almost daring the man to explain why he was being forced to wear a dress.

Kyouya smirked, "You are Mary Jane Watson and I am Peter Parker and we're reenacting their wedding day."

Hikaru quickly came to the defense of his twin, "But why are you Spiderman? It's not very fitting for you at all."

The elder boy's smirk grew, "Well, I was going to be Tony Stark, but then Kaoru would have to be Pepper Potts, which really isn't fitting for him. Mary Jane is much better; she is a redhead and she marries Parker." He paused for a moment, almost as if for dramatic effect, "Although, if you insist, I'm sure I could get a maid costume in time."

Kaoru cringed at the thought and decided not to argue that Pepper was in fact a redhead as well and that she wasn't a maid exactly, more a personal secretary, knowing that Kyouya would merely have another argument planned.

Hikaru, however, did not want to give up; if he was planning on embarrassing his twin, and since he had taken Haruhi away from him, Kyouya deserved to suffer too, "Shouldn't you be wearing Spiderman's outfit then since everyone else is dressed as their superhero identity?"

"Well, if you really want to see me in skin tight clothing I suppose that I could wear it," Kyouya trailed off, knowing that it would freak Hikaru out.

Predictably, Hikaru cringed and left the matter alone, merely grabbing his costume and walking out of the room. Kyouya smirked; everything had worked according to his plan. In reality, the superheroes theme had been created to force Kaoru to wear a wedding dress, especially since the pictures from it would rake in a large profit, not to mention that the Hitachiin's mother would be very pleased, but annoying the elder twin had been an added bonus.

* * *

The princesses in the Host Club sighed dramatically as they saw Kyouya and Kaoru exit from the back room; Kaoru just looked _so _cute!

Not only was he wearing the most gorgeous wedding dress, but he was fully decked out with a reddish wig and even had make-up adorning his honeyed eyes.

Kaoru turned his eyes around the room, noting that all of his fellow members were similarly attired and that they all were playing their characters happily. He smiled at the sight of Honey running around the room, happily twirling his cape with Mori-sempai following close behind. He glanced over towards his brother, hoping that he was not too upset over his role; he was surprised, however, at the sight of his brother's gigantic grin.

It seemed that Hikaru had completely embraced his role, coming in between Haruhi and Tamaki often, justifying it by claiming that it was how his character would act. Kaoru grinned at his twin's mischievousness; he missed playing pranks on the others, but was happy that Hikaru was still able to have fun without him.

He had been worried that Hikaru wouldn't be able to adjust; he knew that his brother didn't approve of his actions and had been afraid that he would have thrown himself into finding Kaoru a way out. Thankfully, it seemed to Kaoru that his twin had accepted his situation and had even allowed himself to become closer to other people in the process.

Kyouya tugged at his hand, dragging Kaoru's eyes away from his brother. He looked at his fiancé, wondering what he needed to do. He knew that they were in the host club and were supposed to be entertaining the guests, but lately he hadn't really needed to do anything other than keep some form of physical contact with Kyouya to please them. Sure, they had to kiss sometimes, but it wasn't that big of a deal, especially since Kyouya was a very good kisser. He hadn't really thought that they would need to work hard during the club today.

Normally, Kaoru loved acting during the Host Club, but his life had gotten so hectic lately that he really just wanted to relax. Clearly, being in Kyouya's company was making him lazy; he used to love running around and playing tricks on everyone, but now he just wanted to curl up next to Kyouya and read a book all day.

Although he and Kyouya still had to act like a real couple outside of the Host Club, it didn't really take any energy out of him. He usually just did whatever he wanted to do when he was with Kyouya; he felt completely comfortable around the other boy. However, it was a completely different story when they were together in the Host Club.

Their customers were very demanding of the couple. Kaoru didn't mind holding his fiancé's hand or leaning against him on other occasions, but he didn't particularly enjoy it when the ravenous-looking girls ordered him to do stuff with Kyouya.

Kaoru even preferred the paparazzi more than the Host Club at the moment, for, although they were annoying as well, they simply documented whatever he and Kyouya felt like doing, whereas their customers felt it their right to demand whatever they wanted, which, technically, was their right, seeing as they were customers of a _Host Club,_ but he chose to ignore that.

As he looked at the females in front of him, he quickly noticed that simply touching Kyouya was no longer going to work. The mere physical contact, it seemed, was not enough to please them anymore. Kaoru sighed, knowing that he needed to do his job, especially since the harder he worked, the more profit would be gained; at least he would be able to make Kyouya happy with the extra earnings.

Kyouya signaled for the women to speak and their elected spokesman suggested a few ideas, "We want you to do the famous upside down kiss! It would be _so_ romantic!"

Kaoru raised an eyebrow at the request; there was no way that Kyouya would ever hang upside down from the ceiling.

"Unfortunately," Kyouya began, turning on his charm, "We do not have the proper set up for me to hang from the ceiling." The girls groaned in annoyance, but Kyouya cut them off before they could protest, "However, I'm sure that we can figure out something that will suffice."

He grabbed Kaoru's hand and led him across the room, the girls following behind. Kaoru looked at his fiancé curiously, wondering what he was planning.

Kyouya pushed Kaoru gently down onto the nearby armchair, which just so happened to be directly in the middle of the room, positioned in front of the hidden cameras. Kaoru looked up at Kyouya expectantly, waiting for him to do something. However, the aforementioned teen merely smirked at him and walked away, out of sight.

Kaoru looked around, curiously, wondering what in the world his fiancé was planning; how in the world did sitting in a chair equal an upside-down kiss?

His question was answered quickly, however, as Kyouya's head suddenly appeared in front of him. Before he could protest, not that he would have, Kyouya's lips were placed gently against his.

It was an odd sensation, but pleasant. He had expected the angle to be awkward, that their lips wouldn't fit properly together, but it almost seemed that they fit better this way. Kaoru sighed in contentment as Kyouya slid his tongue into his mouth. Everything felt so much better this way.

Kyouya pulled away a few moments later, smirking in triumph at Kaoru's groan of disapproval; if he had his way, Kaoru would be all his soon. He just needed to keep moving forward with his plan, for if Kaoru wouldn't admit it emotionally, Kyouya would make his body admit it first.

Kaoru blinked dazedly up at Kyouya; that had certainly been interesting. His fiancé grinned and hoisted him up from the chair, pulling him back, flush against his chest. Kaoru smiled and leaned back fully, enjoying the astonished and dreamy looks on the girls' faces.

He looked around the room and took in the sight of his fellow members. Honey and Mori seemed rather unaffected by their performance as the two eldest boys were still running around the room. Tamaki as well seemed unaffected as he was still fawning over Haruhi. Hikaru and Haruhi, however, were looking suspiciously over in their directions. Kaoru really wondered what was going on with those two; they were always questioning his and Kyouya's actions; couldn't they tell that it was all only an act?

Although, he had to admit that he was really starting to enjoy the other boy's company. He was used to always being around another person, but usually it was with his twin. It was nice being able to get opinions from someone who hadn't grown up in the same exact environment as him. With Hikaru, Kaoru had been able to practically predict his movements and questions; however, with Kyouya, Kaoru was always surprised. Kaoru _loved_ surprises.

Kyouya smirked down at Kaoru and detached himself from his fiancé. He walked over to a curtain that had gone previously unnoticed by Kaoru and pulled it down, revealing the room that was hidden behind. The room was fitted with many benches and the stained glass decorations reminded Kaoru distinctly of a church. He groaned at the thought; obviously they were supposed to pretend like they were getting married.

He was oddly embarrassed by the thought, which he thought odd, especially since he and Kyouya were actually going to be getting married. At least, with his costume on, Kaoru could simply pretend that he was Mary Jane and not allow the situation to effect him.

However, as seemed usual lately, Kaoru's thoughts led to his own downfall. As he was walking through the pews, something caught on his wig and pulled it completely off of his head. Had Kaoru been thinking clearly, he would have found it suspicious that the only thing hanging from the ceiling happened to be a hook, which was positioned at exactly the height needed to remove his wig. Unsurprisingly, Kaoru was too flustered by his lack of wig to notice both the suspiciousness of the hook and Kyouya's triumphant smirk.

Kaoru jumped, trying to claim his wig, but he was unsuccessful as the hook was hoisted even further into the air.

Kyouya grabbed his fiancé's hand and dragged him forward towards the nearby altar. He smiled inwardly at his fiancé's confusion. Kyouya had planned everything so that Kaoru would have to face his feelings, if not outwardly, than at least inwardly. Plus, he loved the younger boy's flustered face.

He figured that by having a mock wedding, Kaoru would have to imagine their real wedding and married life afterwards. Currently, Kaoru was continuously saying that everything between them was merely an act and that it was all to keep the companies intact, but Kyouya knew better. If everything was only an act to Kaoru, he wouldn't seek out his companionship when they were alone, lean into his touch, or sigh in contentment when he was kissed.

Kyouya sat down in the first pew and pulled Kaoru down next to him, thrusting a piece of paper in front of his face.

"We have to go through the whole wedding process as if we're really Mary Jane and Peter Parker, so I copied the vows that they say in the comic book. Memorize it so that we can perform properly."

Kyouya smirked inwardly; there really were no vows in the comic book, but he knew that Kaoru wouldn't argue with him, and, if he played this correctly, Kyouya would force his fiancé to say a few words that should spark his thoughts in the I-love-Kyouya direction.

Kaoru looked down at the words on the paper and blushed furiously; he couldn't believe that he would have to say this. Earlier, it wouldn't have been such a problem, but now that he had no wig on, Kaoru felt completely exposed. Even though he would be saying words that were not his own, he didn't really feel like he would be acting since he looked like himself again. This performance was so like a soon-to-be real life situation—his and Kyouya's wedding—that it would feel overly intimate.

He glanced at Kyouya, hoping that he would be able to sway him away from his antics, but, upon seeing the look on his fiancé's face, he knew that he had absolutely no chance. Kaoru took a few more moments, reading over the script until he had it completely memorized and then allowed himself to be dragged towards the stage, standing opposite of Kyouya.

Kaoru sighed in relief; at least he wouldn't have to walk down the aisle, for that would feel far too realistic. He didn't think he would be able to stand the sight of Kyouya waiting for him at the end of the aisle; he knew that Kyouya would be in full on acting mode and he wouldn't be able to take the sight of his fiancé staring at him longingly.

In fact, recently Kaoru had noticed that Kyouya had gotten much better at acting. Previously in the Host Club, Kyouya had never really had to put on much of an act; he simply acted like his 'cool' self and charmed the ladies easily. Now, however, Kyouya was acting as if he truly loved Kaoru; he was always clinging onto him and always doing the sweetest things. He would have to compliment Kyouya later on his acting skills.

Kaoru was pulled out of his thoughts by Kyouya silencing the crowd. He looked towards their audience for the first time and groaned inwardly; the other members of the Host Club had brought their girls over to enjoy the show. Now everyone would see it, and he wouldn't be surprised if Kyouya was taping the entire thing to sell for a profit later.

He turned his attention back to Kyouya and was greeted by the boy's raised eyebrow. Kaoru shrugged and signaled for Kyouya to start their performance.

Kyouya grinned, knowing that he was going to make Kaoru _so _flustered. He started off by sticking to what Kaoru thought was the plan, "Mary Jane, I have loved you ever since I first saw you act on a stage. At first it was just for your appearance; the way you carried yourself, the way your eyes shined, how your red hair gleamed under the lights. But then I got to know you, and I fell in love with you for more than your outward appearance. Your quiet thinking and caring for others had me completely enraptured. I was so happy when you finally looked past the glasses and saw me for who I really am. I'm the luckiest man alive to be marrying you, Kaoru."

Kaoru's eyes widened with shock at Kyouya's slip up; he had never seen Kyouya mess up while in front of the Host Club before. He was really worried that his fiancé might be sick, for he could find no other explanation for the elder boy slipping up in front of the Host Club.

As he saw everyone looking at him expectantly, Kaoru groaned inwardly; now he didn't know what to do. He wasn't sure whether Kyouya wanted him to follow the prewritten script and call him Peter or cover up his fiancé's slip up by calling him by his given name.

Kyouya smirked at the look on his fiancé's face, enjoying the pinkish hue that had appeared on his cheeks; his plan had worked perfectly.

As Kaoru glanced at Kyouya's face, he knew that, no matter how embarrassed this was going to make him, he needed to cover up for his fiancé. He hoped, at least, that the use of his own name would make Kyouya flustered as well. He took a deep breath and steeled himself for his performance.

"You saw me for who I truly am before I even knew it myself. I had always hidden myself behind other people; I was always the passive one. But you, Kyouya, you saw past my human barrier and helped me discover my own individual identity instead of simply being a member of a group. I wish I had seen past your smart, calculating exterior sooner, but I'm happy that now we can be linked together forever."

Now that he had spoken the words, Kaoru thought it quite strange that Peter Parker was described as calculating; he had always thought that Parker was more of a geek. In fact, the descriptions almost seemed to describe Kyouya more than Peter Parker. Kaoru glanced at Kyouya, trying to gauge the elder boy's reaction. However, before he could speculate further, he was promptly tackled to the ground. He cringed as head smacked against the corner of the step that was situated behind him, before everything went black.

* * *

Kyouya groaned in frustration at the current predicament. Honey-sempai had tackled Kaoru, screaming "That's so cute!" Unfortunately, the tiny teen had forgotten to control his tremendous strength and had knocked Kaoru's head straight onto the corner of the step, causing his young fiancé to black out.

He had carefully carried him into the back room and had laid him down on one of the cushioned tables that adorned the room. Kyouya had then kicked everyone out. He knew that they would be losing significant profits from ending the day earlier, but he honestly didn't care; nothing mattered if his fiancé wasn't healthy. Besides, he would probably be able to salvage the day's earnings with the pictures and videos from their earlier performances.

Kaoru let out a soft sigh, and Kyouya sighed in relief; that had been the first sign that Kaoru wasn't in a complete coma. He leaned down and brushed Kaoru's hair off his forehead. He had wrapped his fiancé's head in a few bandages to stop the light bleeding, but he knew that Kaoru would be upset at the state of his hair.

Kyouya smiled as the younger boy turned his head and leaned unconsciously into his touch; it seemed that his fiancé would be waking up soon.

Kaoru groaned; his head was killing him. He tried to open his eyes at a touch on his forehead, but his eyelids just felt so heavy. He turned his head instead, hoping to at least show the other person, who he assumed to be Kyouya, that he was awake. He waited a few more moments before finally, successfully opening his eyes.

He blinked furiously, trying to adjust to the bright lights that hung above his head. Eventually, his eyes became accustomed to the florescent lights overhead and he smiled up at Kyouya, enjoying the relieved look upon the other's face.

"Welcome back."

Kaoru grinned up at Kyouya, "Hi."

He tried to sit up, but cringed as a sharp pain shot up his spine, "What happened?"

"Honey got rather excited at your words and went for a flying hug, but accidentally knocked you back into the stairs."

"Well that explains the pounding headache."

Kaoru rolled onto his side, so that he was facing his fiancé. "I don't think I can walk without falling over."

Kyouya chuckled; that really wasn't that much of a problem for him. He stood up, and Kaoru looked at him curiously, wondering where the elder boy was going. However, Kyouya didn't go far; he merely walked to the nearby chair and grabbed his bag, before meandering his way back over towards Kaoru.

He draped his bag over his shoulder and did the same with Kaoru's and then hoisted his fiancé into his arms, bridal style, which Kyouya considered very fitting since the boy still wore a wedding dress.

"Let's go home."

Kaoru smiled and didn't protest, snuggling further into Kyouya's chest, allowing himself to completely relax. He had some questions for his fiancé, but right now he wanted nothing more than to just curl up and go to sleep; the questions could wait until later.

* * *

A/N: I hoped you liked this chapter! I'm going to try to update this as quickly as possible even though I'll be out of town for the next few days because I have less than a month until I go to college and I'm not sure how much time I'll have to update once I get there.


	8. Chapter 8: Wars and a Wedding

A/N: So, I am a terrible person for not updating for so long. I know it's not a good excuse, but my laptop has crashed about 6 times in the past year. The company finally gave in and just gave me a new one since the one I had was faulty. Anyways, I decided not to update until it was finished so that you all wouldn't have to wait anymore after this. This is officially the last chapter, I'm not happy with everything, but I hope you all like it. Thank you so much to everyone who has read and/or reviewed this fic. It's kind of been my baby for the past year or so.

Also, this last chapter is like...10,000 words long.

* * *

Kyouya sighed in relief as he felt, rather than saw, his car come to a stop. All of his attention was directed towards his lightly slumbering fiancé, trying to make sure that he was as comfortable as possible. He kept glancing at the wound on the back of his fiancé's head, making sure that it hadn't reopened during the car ride.

He eased Kaoru's weight against him and gently lifted him into his arms as he maneuvered himself out of the car. Kyouya tried to walk as quietly and as smoothly as possible throughout his house, but as he reached the stairs, he realized that there was no way for him to get to their room without waking his betrothed.

Kaoru blinked his eyes open as he felt his head bump repeatedly into Kyouya's chest. Kyouya sighed in defeat upon seeing Kaoru's eyes open. He mumbled an apology to his fiancé and Kaoru merely smiled in reply, pressing his head more firmly against Kyouya's chest. Kyouya sped up his pace, trying to get to his room as quickly as possible.

Kyouya shifted Kaoru in his arms, freeing up a limb so that he could open the door. He strode through his room with ease, dodging the furniture that was strategically placed throughout his abode, despite the darkness. He placed Kaoru on his bed, stretching out his body so that he was fully extended.

Kyouya moved to leave, wanting to fetch Kaoru something to eat as well as some medicine to ease his pain, but a weak grip on his arm caught his attention before he could leave.

Kyouya looked down at the slight touch and saw Kaoru loosely holding onto the cuff of his shirt sleeve.

"Stay."

Kyouya smiled at his fiancé's words and eased himself onto the bed. He knew that he should probably be gathering things to ensure Kaoru's safety, but as the youngest twin curled up against him, nearly wrapping his body around Kyouya, he couldn't bring himself to care.

* * *

Kaoru opened his bleary eyes and groaned upon the pounding pain that rushed to his head. He tried to glance to his left, towards the warmth that was enveloping him, but his head seemed to scream at him in protest. Instead, he turned his head as gently as he could and inwardly smiled at the sight of Kyouya gazing down on him.

"How are you feeling?"

Kaoru winced at how loud Kyouya's voice seemed, and whispered a response in reply, "My head feels like it's going to explode."

Kyouya smiled sympathetically and slipped his hand into Kaoru's, squeezing gently before letting go, leaving a small pill—a painkiller—in his hand.

"Take this." Kyouya pressed a cool glass into his fiancé's hand. Kaoru smiled gratefully and proceeded to take the medicine. He moved to place the glass on the nearby side table, but as he tried to move, Kyouya tightened his grip on the twin and pulled him even tighter to his chest.

"Don't move; you'll only end up hurting yourself again."

Kaoru sighed and allowed himself to be pulled against Kyouya. Normally, he would probably protest to being taken care of as such, but at the moment he didn't really mind. Besides, Kyouya was his fiancé and he supposed that it would be ok to be pampered by his future husband.

He still couldn't believe all that had happened in the last few days, though he supposed that these series of events weren't really all that strange compared to some of the other shenanigans that had occurred since Haruhi had appeared.

He had always expected to be in an arranged marriage, but he had never thought that it would happen so early on in his life. While he knew that most people would complain about the situation that he was in, he almost felt rather fortunate for the strange happening that entwined his life with Kyouya's.

Kaoru felt as if he had some sort of control over this arranged marriage; he wasn't marrying someone whom his father had chosen for him, and, while he hadn't exactly chosen Kyouya for himself, it was probably the closest he would ever get to choosing the person he would spend the rest of his life with. Honestly, he didn't really mind being engaged to Kyouya. The older teen understood him more than he had expected. He could relate to Kyouya and, to be honest, he was, at least, _mildly_ attracted the other boy, more so than he would be to some girl that his father had chosen for him.

He glanced up as Kyouya shifted slightly and shivered at the look in his fiancé's eyed. So maybe, Kaoru was much more than mildly attracted to Kyouya.

He groaned as his forehead gave a sudden pang of pain.

"What're you thinking about so hard, Kaoru? You're only going to worsen your headache."

"Nothing much, really."

That look in Kyouya's eyes had reminded him of something, but for life of him, Kaoru couldn't place what it was. Though he hated to concede to his fiancé, he really was far too tired to be thinking so much. He sighed and allowed himself to drift off into a rather peaceful slumber.

* * *

Kaoru woke up cold. He shifted around a bit, hoping that he would find a source of warmth, _his_ source of warmth, but, after rolling around a bit, he realized that his search was in vain. He was alone.

Kaoru had forgotten what it was like to wake up alone and it really was not a pleasant feeling. He had gotten so used to waking up with Kyouya that he had never really appreciated how much comfort the other man brought him. It wasn't just his warmth that the other boy missed, but he missed his very presence.

He slowly eased himself into a sitting position and swung his legs over the edge of the bed. The younger twin slid himself down to the floor and, finally, stood on his two legs. He attempted to take a step forward with shaky legs.

Kyouya returned to his room to witness the sight of his fiancé tumbling backwards onto his bed.

"Karou, what are you doing?"

The aforementioned boy sighed in defeat and looked over at his elder, "Well, I was trying to walk, but that plan clearly failed."

"And where were you trying to wander off too?"

Kyouya smirked as his fiancé blushed slightly, "I was going to look for you."

Kyouya chuckled at the way Kaoru mumbled under his breath, "Well, I'm here now, so you don't need to go looking for me." He paused for a moment and then continued, "I brought you some food; I figured you'd be hungry."

Kaoru smiled at the sight of a small tray in Kyouya's hands. His fiancé was certainly changing. Before their engagement, Kyouya would have never gotten something for Kaoru himself, for he would have just had one of the servants fetch it for him. He couldn't quite tell if Kyouya was truly changing or if he had always been like this and had just hidden it from the world.

The twin jolted at a poke to his forehead, "Stop thinking so much. You're going to hurt yourself."

Kaoru laughed, grabbed the offered tray, and set it in his lap. He began to eat and almost moaned at how good the food tasted. He was so engrossed in his meal that he didn't notice Kyouya move from the bed to his desk and open his laptop.

When he finally glanced up, he looked at his fiancé curiously, "What are you looking at, Kyouya?"

Kyouya smirked as the light glinted of his glasses, "I'm just looking at pictures from the Host Club."

Kaoru groaned, "Of the wedding…?"

Kyouya nodded his head to signal the affirmative. "Want to see?"

Kaoru really didn't want to relive the embarrassing moment through the pictures, but he figured that he had better look at them to assess the damage.

Seeing Kaoru's slight nod, Kyouya moved over to the bed and sat next to his fiancé, placing his computer on his lap. Kaoru moved over slightly, leaning gently on Kyouya so that he could see the screen clearly.

Kyouya began flipping through the pictures, allowing Kaoru adequate time to take them in. As they reached the point where they had been reading their vows, something tingled at the back of Kaoru's mind.

"Where did you get those vows, Kyouya?"

"I already told you that I copied them out of the comic book."

Kaoru turned his head, looking Kyouya directly in the eyes. "No you didn't. Those vows didn't even remotely describe Peter Parker." He paused, trying to get a read on his fiancé, and, as usual, failed. "I know you wrote them, but there is no way that you made a mistake in their characterization. You meant for them to describe us, and not the superheroes, didn't you?"

Kyouya smirked inwardly; Kaoru was becoming more and more devious. "Very perceptive."

"Why?"

"For the money, of course." Kyouya sighed; he didn't enjoy lying to Kaoru, but he couldn't exactly tell him that he was trying to make him truly fall in love with him. "I figured that our fangirls would appreciate it if the ceremony was more realistic. Plus, now the pictures will sell even more."

"Oh." Kaoru deflated a little bit on the inside. He didn't know why but he had really wanted Kyouya to have had a different motivation. He realized that it was an illogical hope; Kyouya was the Shadow King after all. He would always value business over everything else. Kaoru had thought that Kyouya had put a little more importance on him, since he had shut down the Host Club early, but he guessed that he had assumed wrong.

Kyouya smiled slightly at the troubled look on his fiancé's face. He supposed that it was wrong for him to be excited over the twin's uneasiness, but he couldn't help but hope that Kaoru's reaction meant that he was developing similar feelings.

"What's wrong Kaoru?"

Kaoru was shaken out of his thoughts by Kyouya's voice. "Oh, nothing, I'm just tired is all."

Kyouya nodded, knowing that his fiancé was exhausted. "Okay, you should get some more rest. I'll leave so that I don't disturb you."

Kaoru frowned, "…but I don't sleep well without you."

Kyouya looked down at his fiancé warmly and leaned down to press a kiss to his temple. "I know, but I can't stay. I have a meeting with my father. I'll be back as soon as I can."

It wasn't entirely untrue. Kyouya _had_ meant to talk to his father about some wedding details and he figured that now was as good of a time as any; Kaoru really needed some time to think. He pressed his forehead against his fiancé's for a moment and then promptly left the room.

Kaoru sighed. He knew that he wouldn't be able to fall asleep without another person's body heat. He moved the laptop closer to himself. Kyouya had always said that he could use it whenever he wanted, not that Kaoru needed to borrow his computer since he had his own, but, considering that he couldn't walk to obtain his own, he figured that it would be alright to take his fiancé up on the offer.

He clicked on the start menu, fully intending to find some sort of game to play; however, he was distracted by Kyouya's most recently accessed word documents. While most seemed to pertain to that Host club and seemed to be quite boring, one document, entitled '_plans_', caught Kaoru's eye.

He knew that he shouldn't be snooping through Kyouya's documents, but he couldn't contain his curiosity. Besides, he figured that if it was anything important, Kyouya would have had it encrypted; he wasn't stupid enough to leave something important so easily accessible.

Or maybe he was.

* * *

Kyouya came back to his room to find it empty. He smirked; he guessed that this meant that Kaoru had finally found the document. He knew that Kaoru couldn't have gone far in his current state. He figured that the boy had gone to his own room.

Kyouya didn't really enjoy making his fiancé upset, but it was, unfortunately, completely necessary. He needed to stir up Kaoru's emotions to, hopefully, make him realize his own feelings. The other boy had been living in a world of denial and the only way to shake him out of it would be to deliver a shock that would shatter this world. He didn't like it, but it needed to happen if there was any hope for him and Kaoru to be truly together.

He walked out of his room to stand in front of Kaoru's door. He raised his hand to knock; bracing himself for what he was sure was coming.

"Kyouya-sempai! You deceiving, conniving bastard!"

The aforementioned teen sighed. He had fully expected this, but he had forgotten just how annoying the wrath of Hikaru could be. "Let me through, Hikaru."

Hikaru glared to the best of his ability, knowing that it would be useless on his elder. "No. You've already ruined my brother's life. I'm not going to let you do any more damage to him."

Hikaru couldn't believe it. He had just come to accept that the other boy was right for his brother and then he had to go and ruin everything. He had truly thought that Kyouya had had feelings for his twin, but he guessed that he had drastically underestimated how much of an asshole his sempai was.

"Hikaru, let him in."

"No Kaoru. I can't; he's already hurt you and I'm not letting him do it again."

Kaoru groaned. He had called Hikaru in a panic immediately after seeing the document and his brother had come over instantly and helped him into the other room. While his twin's presence was much appreciated at the beginning of his crisis, now he was being a hindrance. Kaoru realized that he needed to talk things over with his fiancé. He knew that, rationally speaking, he shouldn't trust him at all anymore, but, for some reason, he couldn't bring himself to lose faith in Kyouya entirely.

"Hikaru, let him in. I'm still going to have to marry him regardless of how this all really started. I can't avoid him forever."

Hikaru sighed, noting the finality in his brother's words, and stepped aside, allowing Kyouya to enter the room. However, he remained near the doorway, not leaving the room.

"A little privacy please?"

Hikaru glared at Kyouya once more, warning him with his eyes, before succumbing to his brother's wishes and leaving the room.

"I assume that you know what I found?"

Kyouya nodded, moving to sit next to his fiancé.

"Did you really have all of this planned out?"

Kyouya sighed; this was the part that he was unsure of. He didn't know if it was better to go along with the fake document and pretend that it was the truth or if he should tell Kaoru of his real plan.

If he chose to go along with the document, Kaoru would feel that everything was a lie. Kyouya had made a list entailing how he had planned their engagement, including the incident with the apple. He didn't really think that allowing Kaoru to believe this was the best idea as he might feel betrayed and used. However, he didn't want to explain his new plan as it would force him to reveal his true feelings to Kaoru.

He decided to go with his most reliable tactic: be cryptic. "Do you really think that I would leave something like that so easily accessible?"

Kaoru sighed and sat down on his bed. He didn't really know what to think. It wasn't like Kyouya to be so careless with sensitive information, but, then again, he probably hadn't actually expected Kaoru to go looking through his computer.

"I don't know, Kyouya. I guess not." He paused, thinking again. "Regardless of how this all started, it doesn't really change anything. We still have to get married; it just…feels different now I guess."

Kyouya frowned inwardly; his fiancé looked so sad. He sat down next to Kaoru on the bed and placed his hand on the twin's knee; he needed to know what Kaoru was feeling and thinking. "How is it different, Kaoru?"

Kaoru turned to look at Kyouya, "I don't know really. Before, everything seemed like a happy accident; like we were both escaping from being stuck in really terrible arranged marriages with each other. It was like we had found each other to save ourselves. But now, if everything was a huge set up, it's like everything was planned out anyway; like nothing that happened between us was actually genuine. It just changes how everything feels, Kyouya."

Kaoru's eyes widened at his own words, surprising himself. That almost sounded like a love confession. Kyouya smirked for the very same reason; it seemed that his plan had worked. Now he just needed to comfort his fiancé.

He placed an arm around Kaoru and pulled him close. "Kaoru, I can't tell you why it was there, but I promise you that that document was fake. I swear that none of this was set up; everything was just as real as you thought."

Kaoru sighed; it was hopeless. He knew that he should probably question Kyouya further to find out what really had happened, but he couldn't bring himself to stay angry at the man any longer. He tentatively wrapped his arms around his fiancé, furthering their embrace.

Kyouya relaxed in relief and rested his chin atop Kaoru's head. He hadn't gotten a direct love confession from his fiancé, but this was close enough for now; he was sure that Kaoru would come to realize the true depth of his feelings quite soon. He nuzzled his face into Kaoru's hair, but paused at the odd texture he discovered. Kyouya pulled back and glanced down, frowning at the caked blood he found in his fiancé's hair.

"I think we should probably clean you up a bit."

Kaoru brought a hand up to his head and cringed; Kyouya was probably right. He detached his arms from Kyouya and stood up, taking slow and steady steps towards the bathroom. Kyouya began to follow him, but Kaoru protested.

"Kyouya, I'm fine now; I don't need your help."

Kyouya shook his head, "Kaoru, you probably have a concussion. You can't risk going in there and passing out. Besides, there's no way you'll be able to get all of that out very easily on your own."

Kaoru sighed, but supposed that Kyouya was right. He was feeling much better, but not exactly fine. He didn't really want to have to share a shower with Kyouya again—the first one was awkward enough for him—but he supposed that he didn't really have a choice.

Kyouya followed Kaoru into the bathroom and closed the door behind him with a resounding click. Kaoru turned on the water and began to lift his shirt over his head, but winced when it caught on the back of his head. Kyouya shook his head and stepped over towards his fiancé and gently pushed the shirt over his head.

Kaoru mumbled a quiet thank you before ridding himself of the rest of his clothing and stepping into the shower. Kyouya followed suit and stepped in behind Kaoru.

The younger boy smiled at Kyouya, trying to make the situation less awkward. Though, in fact, Kaoru felt terribly awkward. He was more aware of Kyouya than he had ever been before and now was really not the opportune time for him to realize just how attracted to the other man he was.

His eyes widened as Kyouya stepped towards him. Kyouya reached for the shampoo and squirted some into his hands.

"Turn around, Kaoru. I'll wash your hair for you."

Kaoru nearly sighed in relief at the command, for at least now he wouldn't have to look at Kyouya, but as his fiancé started massaging the shampoo into his head, he started to think that it wasn't such a good idea.

Kyouya had magical fingers; Kaoru could practically feel the tension easing out of his body and his headache had practically disappeared. He relaxed into Kyouya's touch and leaned backwards until their chests were nearly touching.

The elder teen smirked, enjoying how clearly Kaoru was being affected by his touch. He was glad that the other boy was finally beginning to accept his feelings. Kyouya smiled as Kaoru titled his head back to look at him and he leaned down and placed a kiss on the younger's forehead. He slid his hands down to Kaoru's shoulders and spun the other boy to face him.

"Close your eyes, Kaoru."

Kaoru closed his eyes compliantly and, as Kyouya's hands slid up the side of his neck and came to rest on his cheeks, he became giddy. Kyouya was going to kiss him; he could just tell. He didn't know why that thought excited him so much; Kyouya had kissed him before, many times in fact. Maybe it was the fact that neither of them was clothed, but he wasn't really sure.

He opened his eyes in confusion as Kyouya's hands moved up past his cheeks and into his hair.

"Keep them closed, Kaoru. I don't want to get soap in your eyes."

Oh. _Oh._ That was why Kyouya had had him close his eyes, so that he wouldn't get soap in his eyes. Of course. He had been being silly; Kyouya had no reason to kiss him. They were just two people who had been thrown into a strange situation.

Kyouya ran his fingers through Kaoru's hair and sighed. The boy in front of him was just so irresistible, but he wasn't going to try anything. Kaoru had been through a lot today and he didn't want to confuse the boy any more than necessary.

Kaoru was mortified at his own thoughts. How could he have thought that Kyouya liked him, especially with his lack of clothing at the moment? He was always confident in himself when he was dressed; he knew exactly what looked good on his body, but now he just felt self conscious and exposed.

"Are you done yet, Kyouya?" Kyouya was shaken out of his thoughts by Kaoru's words. He pulled his hands from the younger boy's hair and responded in the affirmative.

"Then I'm going to go lie down."

Kyouya nodded and watched his fiancé leave. He wanted to follow after him, but he needed to wash himself after all.

Kyouya frowned as he saw Kaoru's form curled up under the covers. His fiancé didn't look very comfortable. He looked as if he was trying to hide away from the world.

He approached the bed, hesitantly. "Kaoru, what's wrong? Is it your head?"

Kaoru groaned into the pillow, "No. I'm fine; I'm just tired."

Kyouya's frown deepened. Kaoru didn't look like he was trying to sleep; his whole body seemed tense and he seemed to be radiating in some sort of frustration. He couldn't figure out what was troubling his fiancé so much. Things hadn't been great when they had started the shower, but they had seemed to be getting better.

He needed to figure out what was troubling his fiancé so much, and quickly. After the talk he had just had earlier in the day with his father, Kyouya needed his and Kaoru's relationship to improve greatly. He needed to have Kaoru accept his feelings, so that they could spend the rest of their time living in a –dare he think it—blissful happiness.

He sat down next to Kaoru and pulled the covers down, revealing his fiancé's smaller body. Kaoru turned his head in response, glaring at Kyouya for exposing him to the cold air.

"I know that something is bothering you Kaoru. Don't pretend that you're fine when you're not. Tell me."

Kaoru sat up, suddenly angry. He was confused as hell and Kyouya's persistence was not helping to clear his confusion in the least. He just wanted to be left alone to think; why couldn't Kyouya understand that?

"I just need to think, Kyouya. Just leave me alone. Please. I can't handle dealing with you right now."

Kyouya sighed in defeat; he knew not to push the issue right now, for Kaoru seemed seriously confused and maybe just a little bit depressed. He didn't know what exactly had set his fiancé off so much; he had been stirred up earlier, but nothing like this.

He leaned down and placed a kiss on Kaoru's forehead, murmuring, "sleep well", before retreating from the room.

Kyouya chuckled to himself about the fact that Kaoru had successfully kicked him out of his own room for the evening. He didn't even mind really, but he knew that Kaoru wouldn't be able to get any rest being alone; he needed someone there.

Kyouya knew exactly who he needed to call.

* * *

Hikaru never thought the day would come when the Shadow King called him for help, but it apparently had. He shouldn't really be surprised considering everything that had happened in the past few days, but he had always thought that Kyouya-sempai would try to fix and take care of everything on his own.

As he opened the door to Kyouya's room, Hikaru realized exactly why he had called him. His brother was clearly in a dark place. He had never seen him so distraught before. His brother was completely hidden under the covers and all the lights in the room were turned off. Usually, Hikaru would have assumed that his brother was asleep, but the soft sobs coming from the small form gave him away.

Had he walked in on this scene any other time, Hikaru would have been enraged at Kyouya, wondering what the elder boy had done to upset his twin so much. However, Kyouya's phone call from earlier had assured him that he hadn't knowingly caused Kaoru's pain, though he suspected he was the source of the trouble.

Hikaru flicked on the lights, knowing that it was the best way to get Kaoru to listen and talk to him. Sometimes getting his brother annoyed was the easiest way to trick him into spilling his guts.

Kaoru threw himself up in anger, "Kyouya! I thought I told you to go away."

Hikaru raised an eyebrow at Kaoru's words; he didn't think that it would be this easy to provoke Kaoru; usually it took a few different methods, not just simply turning on the lights.

"Oh, Hikaru. I thought you were…What are you doing here?"

Kaoru frowned; why hadn't Kyouya come back? He hadn't actually expected the elder boy to leave. He flopped back down onto the bed, starring at the ceiling.

Hikaru approached him, concerned. "Kaoru, what on earth is wrong?"

Kaoru groaned at his brother's words, if only he _knew_.

"I don't know Hikaru. I really don't."

"Somehow I don't think that's true." Hikaru plopped down next to his brother and mirrored his position.

"I'm not lying. I really have no idea why I feel so god awful."

"Well," Hikaru paused, trying to figure out the best way to phrase his next words, "I think that you have an idea and you're refusing to think about it. I think you're scared Kaoru. I don't know exactly what happened today, but I think it scared the hell out of you and now you're just refusing to face it."

"But nothing happened. After you left, we just talked and cleared a few things up and then showered."

Hikaru thought for a moment; nothing about Kaoru's day sounded particularly stressful, but maybe there was more to it than that. Though he hated to think about it, he knew that his brother and his fiancé had showered together before, so that couldn't have been what had shocked his brother; it must have been whatever they had been talking about.

"What did you talk about?"

Kaoru sighed. "Kyouya explained that none of it had been planned and that what I had seen on his computer was a fake. He didn't really explain anything further than that though."

"What did you tell him, Kaoru?"

Kaoru blushed slightly; his brother could be so persistent sometimes. "Just that I was hurt when I thought that everything was a lie. That I kind of liked the idea of happening to be thrown together with him."

Hikaru tried to hide his smile; at least it sounded like Kaoru had stopped denying his feelings.

"So you're happy being with Kyouya. You're going to be with him, so what's the problem?"

"He doesn't like me."

Well, maybe his brother wasn't as smart as he had thought. How in the world had he gotten it into his head that Kyouya didn't like him? That was the furthest thing from the truth. Hikaru rolled over so that he was facing his twin.

"What on Earth makes you think that Kyouya doesn't like you?"

Kaoru groaned; he hadn't actually expected himself to say that. Hikaru had always been very good at getting him to talk and he supposed that it was probably because they were twins. He mumbled a response, not really wanting to say his fears out loud; they sounded so irrational and silly.

"You're going to have to speak louder Kaoru."

"He didn't kiss me in the shower."

Hikaru's eyes widened at his brother's words; he couldn't believe that this was all over a stupid kiss. Looking at the mortification on his twin's face, he decided, no matter how much he wanted to, not to make fun of the younger boy.

"Kyouya has kissed you lots of times. What does it matter if he didn't when you were in the shower?"

Kaoru wasn't about to explain to his brother that it was partially because he had been naked and thought that Kyouya wasn't attracted to him.

"Every other time has been for some sort of profit. It's fine Hikaru. This whole marriage is based on business anyway. I'm just being stupid."

Hikaru stared at Kaoru as if someone had bitten off his head. He couldn't exactly tell his brother that Kyouya was in love with him— it wasn't his place—but he couldn't let his brother think that Kyouya didn't care about him at all.

"I don't think that everything that he does is just about business. Think about it. There are lots of things that he's done for you that have nothing to do with work. Calling me here for example. You have to get married anyway, so why should it matter to him that you're angry and sad if it's all about business?"

Kaoru sighed; his brother was probably right, but he wasn't completely convinced. He needed to hear it from Kyouya himself; his opinion was the only one that really mattered.

* * *

Kyouya woke up unreasonably early. He couldn't even bring himself to fall back asleep; he was too on edge. He hoped that Hikaru's talk with Kaoru had gone well. He had considered listening in—he was only in the next room after all—but he figured that he wouldn't be able to stop himself from entering the room. Kaoru needed to figure things out on his own; he couldn't keep forcing his feelings on the younger boy.

Kyouya needed to talk to him this morning though, regardless of whether or not his head was clear. He heard movement coming from the bathroom and decided that now was as good of a time as ever to confront his fiancé.

Kaoru stiffened at the sound of the door opening. He was feeling better this morning and he was no longer mad or frustrated at Kyouya, but he was still a bit confused. He knew that he liked the other man, but he wasn't ready to tell him that.

His eyes met his fiancé's in the mirror and he smiled.

"Hi."

"Hi.

"How are you?"

Kaoru turned to face Kyouya. "A lot better, actually. I'm sorry that I was so mean to you last night. There was just a lot going through my mind and I guess I just took my frustration out on you."

"It's ok Kaoru." Kyouya pulled the younger boy into a hug and buried his face in his hair. "I talked to my father yesterday."

Kaoru looked up curiously. "What did he say?"

Kyouya sighed, pulling Kaoru a little bit closer, "Apparently, a major business conference has been scheduled at the end of the month and my father wants our companies to be well connected by then."

He paused, hoping that his next words wouldn't cause Kaoru to freak out again. "Our wedding is in a week and a half."

* * *

The past week had been a complete blur; everything had been moving so quickly. Kaoru couldn't believe that they were crazy enough to try to put together an entire wedding in a week. Though, he supposed that he shouldn't be surprised by the motivation of the Ohtori clan when it came to a business attraction.

Kyouya had explained that a new business convention had been announced to be about a month away. Naturally, his father had wanted the Hitachiin and Ohtori clans to be united before then so that they could use the wedding to stir up some press about the convention.

They had been working on the wedding nonstop all week and Kaoru was glad that he could finally just sit down and relax. This whole situation had been rather overwhelming. He had finally been coming to accept that he had feelings for the other boy, but he hadn't had any time to deal with them yet. He really wanted to talk to Kyouya, but there really hadn't been a good time to bring it up.

As he looked over at Kyouya, he thought about pulling him aside to have a chat, but decided against it. The members of the Host Club were over at their house and it was the first time that they had spent together outside of the Club. Normally, Kaoru wouldn't think twice about pulling Kyouya away from Tamaki-sempai, but he knew that, though he wouldn't admit it, his fiancé had really missed his friend. Unbelievably, Kyouya had shortened the hours of the Host Club so that they would have time to plan the wedding, so they all really hadn't seen each other in a while.

Kaoru turned his attention to the teens before him, who seemed to be engaged in one of their usual antics.

"Kyouya, we have to! Haruhi said that it was a tradition before every wedding and we must try it!"

Kaoru raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "What tradition?"

"Kaoru haven't you been listening? A bachelor party of course! Doesn't it just sound so interesting and fun?"

"Tamaki, it's such an uncouth tradition. Don't you think it's a little beneath us? We can't exactly have it known that we're running around in strip clubs or whatnot."

Tamaki frowned at Kyouya's words, but didn't give up.

Inevitably, Kyouya agreed.

* * *

Kyouya had a feeling that tonight wasn't going to end well. Tamaki had decided that they needed two bachelors parties since, traditionally, there would have been both a bachelor party and a bachelorette party. He didn't know why he had gone along with this idea. He didn't really find the idea of going around to different bars all that appealing and he didn't think that Kaoru really did either.

Kyouya missed the other boy. Despite all of the time they had spent together going over plans for the wedding, he and Kaoru hadn't really talked about anything substantial. Kaoru always looked as if he had something he needed to say, but he never began the conversation and instead would sit in silence and think. At least now they were sharing the bed again, but Kyouya missed spending quality time with his fiancé.

He honestly couldn't wait for the wedding because then they wouldn't have anything to hide behind anymore. Kaoru couldn't ramble on and on about the clothing for the wedding instead of discussing the real issue at hand.

Kyouya looked up and saw that Tamaki finally looked as if he was ready to leave. They had decided to have the two parties on the same night and split into two groups. He was going around alone with Tamaki and he hoped that being separated from the others would prevent things from getting too out of hand. He knew that the other boy would want to experience as much as possible, but Kyouya fully intended on tricking him into ending the evening early. Kaoru had expressed that he had similar intentions.

Kyouya hoped that, later tonight after they had both ditched the others, they would finally be able to relax and have a good talk. In fact, the more that he thought about it, the more it made more sense for him to not go out at all. He didn't know when Kaoru would be back, but he wanted to have as much time with him as possible and the easiest way to achieve that would be to just stay at the house. Tricking Tamaki would be easy enough.

"Tamaki, are you sure that you want to go?"

The aforementioned boy glared at his friend, "Of _course_ I want to go! I must experience this commoner tradition."

The light glinted off of Kyouya's glasses menacingly. "What is our favorite commoner doing tonight Tamaki?"

"Isn't she with the others?"

"It's a bachelor party. No girls allowed, remember? You said so yourself."

"Oh. Right. So what is she doing then?"

Kyouya smirked. "Well, she's probably sitting at home. Alone. Her father's working tonight, you know? She must be so _lonely_."

Tamaki's eyes widened at Kyouya's words. How could he have left her alone like that just for some stupid tradition?

"I must go save her; sorry Kyouya!"

Kyouya chuckled; he hadn't expected his plan to work that quickly. He had thought that Tamaki would have needed some more convincing.

Now all he had to do was wait for Kaoru.

* * *

As Kaoru looked at the brightly lit up sign above the door of the club, he knew that he was going to kill his brother. He had thought that they would go to a normal bar and that he would be able to sneak out easily, but now he realized that that would never happen. His stupid brother had decided to bring them all to a gay bar and he knew that his brother wasn't going to let him leave all that easily.

He glared at his brother as they walked in. The two eldest teens were in front of them and they seemed to already be a hit with the occupants of the room.

"Look Kaoru, I know you're mad, but I really did have a reason."

Kaoru looked at Hikaru curiously.

"You're marrying Kyouya in a few days and you've never experienced being around other gay guys. If you and Kyouya decide that you want to have affairs on the side how do you expect to find other guys if you've never even tried before?"

Kaoru looked as if he was going to protest, but Hikaru stopped him before he could speak.

"Don't. I know what you're going to say. Even if you decide to be with Kyouya—and I mean actually be with him—you should know what else is out there. I don't want you to just settle for Kyouya without having experienced anything else."

Kaoru supposed that Hikaru had a point; he hadn't actually ever been around any other gay guys before. He wasn't exactly planning on finding some random guy, but he didn't think that it could hurt just to meet some people or at least watch how others interacted.

He moved to the bar and sat down, allowing Hikaru to order him a drink. He glanced around the room observing the environment. It was certainly interesting. There were people dancing all over the place; some were simply swaying to the music while others were grinding against each other in the most obscene manner. He was sure that in the darker corners of the room there were people coupled together who were soon to leave the club in search of some place more intimate.

This environment certainly intrigued him. He couldn't imagine himself leaving with someone that he had just met, but he wouldn't be opposed to dancing. He wondered if Kyouya would dance like this even though it wasn't the civilized dancing that he was used to. He doubted it.

He sipped his drink and smiled at the taste. He wasn't sure what Hikaru had ordered, but it certainly tasted delicious.

"Want another one?"

Kaoru nodded absentmindedly still watching everything taking place on the dance floor. A few moments later, another brightly colored drink was placed in front of him. He accepted it and looked up to thank his brother, blanching when he realized that the person who had offered him the drink was most certainly not his brother. He squeaked out a quick 'thank you' and sipped nervously on his drink, wondering what the man wanted and where the hell his brother had disappeared to.

The guy smiled and introduced himself. Kaoru thought for a moment, trying to figure out what to do. It couldn't hurt to talk to the man. He entertained girls nearly every day; this couldn't be that much different.

He engaged in small talk with him—he thought the stranger's name was Chris—and it was all very delightful. They talked about their favorite movies and their hobbies. It was kind of refreshing to talk to someone who he hadn't known—or at least known about—since he was young. Kaoru noticed that Chris had steadily been moving closer to him, but he didn't really mind; the other man was interesting and nice.

Their conversation slowed as they were running out of things to idly chat about. Chris suggested dancing and Kaoru agreed. He didn't really want to get up close and personal with him, but dancing did look like fun. Besides, it seemed rather harmless. Kaoru wasn't that attracted to him; he was handsome for sure, but it just seemed like something was missing. He supposed that the other teen would probably look better with a pair of glasses framing his face. And his hair was a bit too light—he would look better with darker hair.

A slow song was playing when they finally made it onto the dance floor. Kaoru reached up to wrap his arms around Chris' shoulders, but there didn't seem to be a comfortable place to rest them. He sighed, just letting them go wherever. The teen was just a bit too tall. Or he was too short. Either way, it wasn't as enjoyable as Kaoru had thought it would be considering how happy everyone else looked.

They swayed together a while longer until the music sped up. The other boy pulled him closer and Kaoru allowed it, hoping now that maybe dancing would become more enjoyable.

It didn't.

Now that they were closer, it wasn't as awkward, but the positioning just still didn't feel right. He was certainly enjoying the song, but he almost would rather just be dancing by himself. Kaoru was trying to move to the beat, but his partner seemed to have other ideas. The man just couldn't seem to keep a tempo. He knew that Kyouya would be appalled by the man's lack of skill. Kaoru was sure that, if Kyouya ever tried to dance like this, he would be perfect and he would most certainly stay on tempo.

Kaoru looked up, trying to gauge the other man's mood. He certainly seemed to be enjoying it. He noticed that Kaoru was looking up at him, smiled, and began to lean down. Kaoru realized, a bit too late, the he was going to kiss him.

He hadn't been planning on letting things progress this far; he just wanted to dance and have a bit of fun, but he supposed that this might not be such a bad thing. He hadn't actually kissed a boy other than Kyouya and it couldn't hurt to see how it felt with someone else.

Warm lips descended on his and Kaoru sighed. It was…pleasant certainly. It was a bit difficult to keep his head tilted at such an angle, but it wasn't terrible. He looked at Chris' face and the man's eyes were shut; that was boring. Kaoru let his eyes roam the room. Nothing too exciting seemed to be happening though it looked like Mori-Sempai was having a difficult time keeping Honey-sempai in check. As he looked closer at the scene they were creating, he noticed that his brother was standing behind them and seemed to be glaring in his direction.

Kaoru's eyes widened at the thought that his brother was upset with him; maybe he had taken things too far. He pushed Chris away, apologized, and walked in the direction of his brother not sparing a glance backwards for the forlorn man.

Hikaru had been watching his brother like a hawk. He had wanted Kaoru to meet some other people, but he hadn't expected this to go that far. He had wanted this to help Kaoru accept his feelings for Kyouya, but it didn't really look like that was what had happened. Maybe he should stop making plans.

"So, how has your night been Kaoru?"

"It's been…nice. I guess. Can we go now?"

* * *

Kyouya sat back in his chair and growled slightly; where the hell was Kaoru. He had expected the other boy back by midnight at the latest, but it was now a quarter past two. He didn't think that Kaoru would do anything stupid, but, for some reason, the idea that he could actually be having fun going to bars without him, enraged him.

Kaoru was supposed to come home early to be with him. To spend time with him. Maybe he had been wrong; maybe Kaoru didn't really like him. It was possible. Nothing about their situation was normal and there was no way for him to be sure what the other boy was thinking. He thought that Kaoru enjoyed spending time with him and had grown to at least like him, but he couldn't be sure without hearing it from Kaoru himself.

Speak of the Devil, it sounded like Kaoru had just gotten home. He looked up and frowned at the sight of his fiancé; he looked troubled or different or something. Kyouya couldn't quite place his finger on it.

"Kaoru? What's wrong?" Kyouya decided that he could question him later on what he had been doing all evening.

"I kissed someone else."

Kyouya felt a wave of jealousy surge through him. He calmed himself before he showed it though since, technically, Kaoru hadn't done anything wrong. They had no real commitment to one another.

"That's natural, I suppose. Were you planning on seeing him again? You should probably wait until a bit after the wedding though, since the spotlight will be on us for a while."

This was killing him, but he couldn't do anything about it. Who was he to stop Kaoru from being with someone he really liked?

"No."

"Kaoru, you have to wait. I don't care how much you like this guy; you cannot jeopardize our plan."

Kaoru sighed; he seriously thought that Kyouya had lost some of his intelligence by spending so much time with him.

"No, Kyouya. I'm not seeing him again."

Now Kyouya was confused. Kaoru had kissed someone and didn't plan on seeing him again? That didn't seem like something he would do.

"Then why did you do it?"

Kaoru paused for a moment, thinking.

"I wanted to see what it was like."

Kyouya didn't really know how to respond to that. He decided instead to just wait for Kaoru to continue.

"Dance with me?"

Kyouya stood, approaching Kaoru. He didn't really know where his fiancé was going with this, but it didn't seem like a bad thing to dance with him.

"Ok. Do you want to Waltz? Or Tango?"

"No. Just, you know, sway."

Kyouya nodded; it wasn't really his style, but right now it seemed best to just go along with what Kaoru wanted. He turned on the radio with the nearby remote and walked over to Kaoru, pulling him close.

Kaoru sighed; he knew that dancing would be better with Kyouya. His arms fit easily around Kyouya's neck and his head rested comfortably against his chest. They swayed from side to side, moving easily to the music. He didn't know why he had ever tried being with someone else; this was clearly how it was supposed to be.

Kyouya smiled and twirled Kaoru around. The younger boy let out a laugh and clung to Kyouya tighter.

"Kiss me Kyouya."

Kyouya stopped moving and cupped Kaoru's face with his hands. As Kyouya's lips pressed against Kaoru's, he wondered why he ever thought that this could be the same with someone else. He felt like he was melting and he had never been this relaxed in his entire life.

It was Kyouya. It always had been and it always would be.

Kyouya pulled back from the kiss, slightly breathless. "Kaoru, what's going on?"

Kaoru mumbled into Kyouya's shirt, not knowing how to begin.

Kyouya pulled them onto the armchair, settling Kaoru into his lap.

"Explain."

Kaoru sighed. "Hikaru took us to a gay bar."

Kyouya was going to kill the older twin, but before he could think of a way to get away with it, Kaoru continued.

"I wasn't planning on doing anything, I just watched everyone else, but then this guy bought me a drink and we started talking and I guess that I just wanted to know if I feel the way I do with you with every guy."

Kyouya held his breath. "And how do you feel with me."

"Special, maybe?" Kaoru paused, trying to delicately word his next few sentences.

"This isn't just a plan to me anymore. I really want to marry you and not just because it's convenient and easy and good for business. I want to marry you because I'm in love with you. And, before you say anything, I know that you don't feel the same way, but you're stuck with me; we can't call off the wedding now. Don't worry, I'm not going to jump you or anything, I just thought you should know."

Kaoru began to get up, but Kyouya grabbed his wrist and practically threw him down onto the nearby bed. For a moment, Kaoru thought that Kyouya was going to kill him, but, as warm lips descended upon his, his thoughts quickly changed.

Kyouya pulled away with the largest smile on his face that he had probably ever had.

"You're an idiot."

Kaoru laughed as Kyouya rolled off of him. "Clearly."

Kyouya grabbed his hand and laced their fingers together.

"But you never said anything!"

Kyouya looked at Kaoru and smirked, "Do I look like the type to bear my soul? Don't you think I'm more the manipulating type? It took you long enough to realize it."

Kaoru's eyes widened at the realization. "You planned that whole fake document thing and the fake wedding in the host club to make me realize my feelings? If you had just told me we could have been happy together a long time ago! That would have been so much easier."

"But it wouldn't have been as much fun."

Kaoru wanted to kill him, but that could come later. They had far too much catching up to do.

* * *

Kaoru didn't think he had ever been this happy. He was getting married today. Finally. It was weird to think about. Only a few weeks ago he was single, in the closet, and still living in his family home. Then he had somehow been caught up in the weirdest whirlwind romance and now he was getting married.

He didn't think that that much would change once they actually got married. They were already living together and they spent most of their time together. He did find it quite thrilling that they would now be going to all social events officially together. Since they would be married, they wouldn't have to deal with all of the girls at the functions.

He sighed as he looked into the mirror; he knew that he looked good, but he didn't really care at the moment. He just wanted to spend time with Kyouya. He had planned on getting ready with the other man, not really caring that it went against tradition, but his brother hadn't allowed it.

Hikaru had thrown a fit when he found out his plans, especially since he and Kyouya hadn't been separated last night. Kaoru thought that everyone was being ridiculous. How could they expect them to sleep in separate rooms when they quite literally couldn't sleep without the other? He thought that it would be better to break tradition than to fall asleep during the wedding ceremony.

He knew it seemed ridiculous, but, now that he had Kyouya, he never wanted to let him go. He looked at his watch again. He really just wanted the ceremony to start so that he could finally see Kyouya again.

* * *

Kyouya sighed as he stood on the altar. It felt as if the ceremony were never ending. He knew that it needed to be extravagant for the sake of the business, but he just wanted to get it over with. He wanted to grab Kaoru, kiss him senseless, and then whisk him away to their honeymoon.

He actually didn't know where they were going on their trip; Kaoru had insisted on planning the entire thing himself. Kyouya didn't even care where they ended up as long as he finally got some alone time with his soon-to-be husband. They hadn't really had much time to spend alone together in the past few days since they were so focused on making sure that the wedding was successful.

He actually had a surprise for Kaoru. He had been so frustrated that they hadn't had any proper alone time that he had decided to buy them a place of their own. They could have just stayed at his family home for a few years, but Kyouya didn't think he could stand being around his family and their traditions with Kaoru around. He knew it was out of character for him; normally he wouldn't mind being at home since it upped his chances of taking over the family businesses, but now everything was different.

He was truly happy with Kaoru. He didn't want anything to jeopardize their happiness and his father had a way with ruining things. He also realized that it would probably be easier for him to take over his fathers' business if he wasn't in the same home as him. He knew that his father was always watching him, and it would be easier to come up with a plan without his father's eyes on him. But, honestly, that was all secondary to the fact that he could be alone with Kaoru. They could do anything that they wanted and no one could say anything about it.

He knew that he had changed and that most of his family wouldn't like his new attitude, but he liked it and he knew that Kaoru did too and that was all that mattered.

He loved Kaoru and Kaoru loved him back. Nothing else would ever matter.

Kyouya looked up as the music changed and he gasped. He had seen Kaoru in his tuxedo before. He had heard the song before and had even seen Kaoru walk towards him before. This time though, he knew that it was for real. This gorgeous man walking towards him would officially be his.

Kaoru smiled at the look on Kyouya's face, knowing that he probably wore a similar expression on his own. He would soon be married to Kyouya. They would finally be together and could just spend the rest of their life in happiness.

To the world, their love would seem strange. Two rich, handsome, and well raised boys couldn't possibly be in love with each other. He knew that, though many people seemed to be supporting them, there would be some who would criticize them and try to block them from being successful, but he didn't care. He was living out a dream that he had never even allowed himself to imagine.

As they looked at one another, wondering how an apple had caused such bliss, they had a feeling that everything would work out just fine.

* * *

And thus, it ends. Thank you all so much for reading!


End file.
